Suspended-sediment transport and storage: A demonstration of acoustic methods in the evaluation of reservoir management strategies for a small water-supply reservoir in western Colorado
Cory A. Williams, Rodney J. Richards, Kent L. Collins
2015, Conference Paper
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) and local stakeholder groups are evaluating reservoir-management strategies within Paonia Reservoir. This small reservoir fills to capacity each spring and requires approximately half of the snowmelt-runoff volume from its sediment-laden source waters, Muddy Creek. The U.S. Geological Survey is currently conducting high-resolution (15-minute data-recording...
Sedimentology of SPICE (Steptoean positive carbon isotope excursion): A high-resolution trace fossil and microfabric analysis of the middle to late Cambrian Alum Shale Formation, southern Sweden
Sven Egenhoff, Neil Fishman, Per Ahlberg, Jorg Maletz, Allison Jackson, Ketki Kolte, Heather A. Lowers, James Mackie, Warren Newby, Matthew Petrowsky
2015, Book chapter, Paying Attention to Mudrocks: Priceless!
The Cambrian Alum Shale Formation in the Andrarum-3 core from Scania, southern Sweden, consists of black siliciclastic mudstone with minor carbonate intercalations. Four facies comprise three siliciclastic mudstones and one fine-grained carbonate. The facies reflect deposition along a transect from deep ramp to basin on a Cambrian shelf. The three...
A reply to Iversen et al.'s comment “Monitoring of animal abundance by environmental DNA - An increasingly obscure perspective”
Katy E. Klymus, Cathy A. Richter, Duane Chapman, Craig P. Paukert
2015, Biological Conservation (192) 481-482
We appreciate the conversation put forward by Iversen et al. (2015) in their response to our article “Quantification of eDNA shedding rates from invasive bighead carp Hypophthalmichthys nobilis and silver carp Hypophthalmichthys molitrix” in the 2015 environmental DNA special issue of Biological Conservation.We agree with Iversen et al.'s concern about...
Baseline and premining geochemical characterization of mined sites
D. Kirk Nordstrom
2015, Applied Geochemistry (57) 17-34
A rational goal for environmental restoration of new, active, or inactive mine sites would be ‘natural background’ or the environmental conditions that existed before any mining activities or other related anthropogenic activities. In a strictly technical sense, there is no such thing as natural background (or entirely non-anthropogenic) existing today...
Using monitoring and modeling to define the hazard posed by the reactivated Ferguson rock slide, Merced Canyon, California
Jerome V. De Graff, Alan J. Gallegos, Mark E. Reid, Richard G. Lahusen, Roger P. Denlinger
2015, Natural Hazards (76) 769-789
Rapid onset natural disasters such as large landslides create a need for scientific information about the event, which is vital to ensuring public safety, restoring infrastructure, preventing additional damage, and resuming normal economic activity. At the same time, there is limited data available upon which to base reliable scientific responses....
Updating the USGS seismic hazard maps for Alaska
Charles Mueller, Richard W. Briggs, Robert L. Wesson, Mark D. Petersen
2015, Quaternary Science Reviews (113) 39-47
The U.S. Geological Survey makes probabilistic seismic hazard maps and engineering design maps for building codes, emergency planning, risk management, and many other applications. The methodology considers all known earthquake sources with their associated magnitude and rate distributions. Specific faults can be modeled if slip-rate or recurrence information is available....
Golden Eagle dietary responses in relation to habitat alteration and climate change in the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey NCA
Julie A. Heath, Michael N. Kochert
2015, Report
No abstract available. ...
Geomicrobial interactions with arsenic and antimony
Ronald S. Oremland
2015, Book chapter, Ehrlich’s Geomicrobiology
Although arsenic and antimony are generally toxic to life, some microorganisms exist that can metabolize certain forms of these elements. Some can use arsenite or stibnite as potential or sole energy sources, whereas others can use aresenate and antimonite (as was discovered only recently) as terminal electron acceptors. Still other...
The challenges of remote monitoring of wetlands
Alisa L. Gallant
2015, Remote Sensing (7) 10938-10950
Wetlands are highly productive and support a wide variety of ecosystem goods and services. Various forms of global change impose compelling needs for timely and reliable information on the status of wetlands worldwide, but several characteristics of wetlands make them challenging to monitor remotely: they lack a single, unifying land-cover...
Risk management of El Chichón and Tacaná Volcanoes: Lessons learned from past volcanic crises: Chapter 8
Servando De la Cruz-Reyna, Robert I. Tilling
2015, Book chapter, Active Volcanoes of Chiapas (Mexico): El Chichón and Tacaná
Before 1985, Mexico lacked civil-protection agencies with a mission to prevent and respond to natural and human-caused disasters; thus, the government was unprepared for the sudden eruption of El Chichón Volcano in March–April 1982, which produced the deadliest volcanic disaster in the country’s recorded history (~2,000 fatalities). With the sobering...
The influence of Tamarix ramosissima defoliation on population movements of the northern tamarisk beetle (Diorhabda carinulata) within the Colorado Plateau: Chapter 18
Levi R. Jamison, Charles van Riper III, Dan W. Bean
2015, Book chapter, The Colorado Plateau VI: Science and Management at the Landscape Scale
The northern tamarisk beetle (Diorhabda carinulata) was introduced to the Colorado Plateau within the Colorado River Basin in 2004, in an effort to control invasive/exotic tamarisk (Tamarix ramosissima) plants. Since release, there has been rapid beetle colonization and subsequent defoliation of tamarisk along the Colorado River corridor. We collected plant...
Measuring storm tide and high-water marks caused by Hurricane Sandy in New York: Chapter 2
Amy E. Simonson, Riley Behrens
2015, Book chapter, Learning from the Impacts of Superstorm Sandy
In response to Hurricane Sandy, personnel from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) deployed a temporary network of storm-tide sensors from Virginia to Maine. During the storm, real-time water levels were available from tide gages and rapid-deployment gages (RDGs). After the storm, USGS scientists retrieved the storm-tide sensors and RDGs and...
Decision support system for optimally managing water resources to meet multiple objectives in the Savannah River Basin
Edwin A. Roehl Jr., Paul Conrads
2015, Journal of South Carolina Water Resources (2) 16-23
Managers of large river basins face conflicting demands for water resources such as wildlife habitat, water supply, wastewater assimilative capacity, flood control, hydroelectricity, and recreation. The Savannah River Basin, for example, has experienced three major droughts since 2000 that resulted in record low water levels in its reservoirs, impacting dependent...
Nutrient attenuation in rivers and streams, Puget Sound Basin, Washington
Rich W. Sheibley, Christopher P. Konrad, Robert W. Black
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5074
Nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus are important for aquatic ecosystem health. Excessive amounts of nutrients, however, can make aquatic ecosystems harmful for biota because enhanced growth and decay cycles of aquatic algae can reduce dissolved oxygen in the water. In Puget Sound marine waters, low dissolved oxygen concentrations are...
Total dissolved gas and water temperature in the lower Columbia River, Oregon and Washington, water year 2014
Heather M. Bragg, Matthew W. Johnston
2015, Open-File Report 2014-1237
Significant Findings An analysis of total-dissolved-gas (TDG) and water-temperature data collected at eight fixed monitoring stations on the lower Columbia River in Oregon and Washington in water year 2014 indicated the following: All 81 TDG sensor laboratory checks that were performed after field deployment were within plus or minus (±) 0.5-percent saturation...
Regional scale estimates of baseflow and factors influencing baseflow in the Upper Colorado River Basin
Christine Rumsey, Matthew P. Miller, David D. Susong, Fred D. Tillman, David W. Anning
2015, Journal of Hydrology (4) 91-107
Study region The study region encompasses the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB), which provides water for 40 million people and is a vital part of the water supply in the western U.S. Study focus Groundwater and surface water can be considered a single water resource and thus it...
Sampling techniques for burbot in a western non-wadeable river
Z. B. Klein, Michael C. Quist, D.T. Rhea, A. C. Senecal
2015, Fisheries Management and Ecology (22) 213-223
Burbot, Lota lota (L.), populations are declining throughout much of their native distribution. Although numerous aspects of burbot ecology are well understood, less is known about effective sampling techniques for burbot in lotic systems. Occupancy models were used to estimate the probability of detection () for three...
Ecosystem services science, practice, and policy: Perspectives from ACES, A Community on Ecosystem Services
Carl D. Shapiro, Greg Arthaud, Frank Casey, Dianna M. Hogan
2015, Ecological Economics (115) 1-2
Ecosystem services are at a crossroad. The natural capital needed to produce them is diminishing (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005). At the same time, the science relating to their identification, production, and valuation is advancing. Examples of ecosystem services applications are abundant in the literature. In addition, the concept of ecosystem...
Geologic and geomorphic controls on the occurrence of fens in the Oregon Cascades and implications for vulnerability and conservation
A. Aldous, Marshall W. Gannett, Mackenzie K. Keith, James E. O'Connor
2015, Wetlands (35) 757-767
Montane fens are biologically diverse peat-forming wetlands that develop at points of groundwater discharge. To protect these ecosystems, it is critical to understand their locations on the landscape and the hydrogeologic systems that support them. The upper Deschutes Basin has a groundwater flow system that supports baseflow in many rivers,...
Concentrations of metals and trace elements in aquatic biota associated with abandoned mine lands in the Whiskeytown National Recreation Area and nearby Clear Creek watershed, Shasta County, northwestern California, 2002-2003
Roger L. Hothem, Jason T. May, Jennifer K. Gibson, Brianne E. Brussee
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1077
Park management of the Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, in northwestern California, identified a critical need to determine if mercury (Hg) or other elements originating from abandoned mines within the Upper Clear Creek watershed were present at concentrations that might adversely affect aquatic biota living within the park. During 2002–03, the...
Seismic data collection from water gun and industrial background sources in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal area, Illinois, 2011
William S. Morrow, Phillip J. Carpenter, Ryan F. Adams
2015, Data Series 938
The water gun is a tool adapted from deep marine geophysical surveys that is being evaluated for use as an acoustic fish deterrent to control the movement of invasive marine species. The water gun creates a seismic signal by using a compressed air discharge to move a piston rapidly within...
Physical characteristics and fish assemblage composition at site and mesohabitat scales over a range of streamflows in the Middle Rio Grande, New Mexico, winter 2011-12, summer 2012
Christopher L. Braun, Daniel K. Pearson, Michael D. Porter, J. Bruce Moring
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5025
In winter 2011–12 and summer 2012, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Albuquerque District and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service New Mexico Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office in Albuquerque, New Mexico, evaluated the physical characteristics and fish assemblage composition of available...
First steps of integrated spatial modeling of titanium, zirconium, and rare earth element resources within the Coastal Plain sediments of the southeastern United States
Karl J. Ellefsen, Bradley S. Van Gosen, David L. Fey, James R. Budahn, Steven M. Smith, Anjana K. Shah
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1111
The Coastal Plain of the southeastern United States has extensive, unconsolidated sedimentary deposits that are enriched in heavy minerals containing titanium, zirconium, and rare earth element resources. Areas favorable for exploration and development of these resources are being identified by geochemical data, which are supplemented with geological, geophysical, hydrological, and...
Dam failure analysis for the Lago de Matrullas Dam, Orocovis, Puerto Rico
Heriberto Torres-Sierra, Julieta Gómez-Fragoso
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5065
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, completed a hydrologic and hydraulic study to assess the potential hazard to human life and property associated with the hypothetical failure of the Lago de Matrullas Dam, located within the headwaters of the Río Grande de Manatí....
Geologic map of the Vashon 7.5' quadrangle and selected areas, King County, Washington
Derek B. Booth, Kathy Goetz Troost, Rowland W. Tabor
2015, Scientific Investigations Map 3328
This map is an interpretation of a 6-ft-resolution lidar-derived digital elevation model combined with geology by Derek B. Booth and Kathy Goetz Troost. Field work by Booth and Troost was located on the 1:24,000-scale topographic map of the Vashon and Des Moines 7.5' quadrangles that were published in 1997 and...
