Evaluating the relationship between biomass, percent groundcover and remote sensing indices across six winter cover crop fields in Maryland, United States
Kusuma Prabhakara, W. Dean Hively, Greg W. McCarty
2015, International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation (39) 88-102
Winter cover crops are an essential part of managing nutrient and sediment losses from agricultural lands. Cover crops lessen sedimentation by reducing erosion, and the accumulation of nitrogen in aboveground biomass results in reduced nutrient runoff. Winter cover crops are planted in the fall and are usually terminated in early...
Statistical analysis of soil geochemical data to identify pathfinders associated with mineral deposits: An example from the Coles Hill uranium deposit, Virginia, USA
Denise M. Levitan, Carl E. Zipper, Patricia Donovan, Madeline E. Schreiber, Robert R. Seal, Mark A. Engle, John A. Chermak, Robert J. Bodnar, Daniel K. Johnson, Joseph G. Aylor Jr.
2015, Journal of Geochemical Exploration (154) 238-251
Soil geochemical anomalies can be used to identify pathfinders in exploration for ore deposits. In this study, compositional data analysis is used with multivariate statistical methods to analyse soil geochemical data collected from the Coles Hill uranium deposit, Virginia, USA, to identify pathfinders associated with this deposit. Elemental compositions and...
Tectonic and sedimentary linkages between the Belt-Purcell basin and southwestern Laurentia during the Mesoproterozoic ca. 1.60-1.40 Ga
James V. Jones III, Christohper G Dainel, Michael F Doe
2015, Lithosphere (7) 465-472
Mesoproterozoic sedimentary basins in western North America provide key constraints on pre-Rodinia craton positions and interactions along the western rifted margin of Laurentia. One such basin, the Belt-Purcell basin, extends from southern Idaho into southern British Columbia and contains a >18-km-thick succession of siliciclastic sediment deposited ca. 1.47–1.40 Ga. The...
Geologic map of the Simcoe Mountains Volcanic Field, main central segment, Yakama Nation, Washington
Wes Hildreth, Judy Fierstein
2015, Scientific Investigations Map 3315
Mountainous parts of the Yakama Nation lands in south-central Washington are mostly covered by basaltic lava flows and cinder cones that make up the Simcoe Mountains volcanic field. The accompanying geologic map of the central part of the volcanic field has been produced by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) on...
Geochemical reanalysis of historical U.S. Geological Survey sediment samples from the Inmachuk, Kugruk, Kiwalik, and Koyuk River drainages, Granite Mountain, and the northern Darby Mountains, Bendeleben, Candle, Kotzebue, and Solomon quadrangles, Alaska
Melanie B. Werdon, Matthew Granitto, Jaime S. Azain
2015, Report
The State of Alaska’s Strategic and Critical Minerals (SCM) Assessment project, a State-funded Capital Improvement Project (CIP), is designed to evaluate Alaska’s statewide potential for SCM resources. The SCM Assessment is being implemented by the Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys (DGGS), and involves obtaining new airborne-geophysical, geological, and...
Hydrologic influences on water-level changes in the Eastern Snake River Plain aquifer at and near the Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho, 1949-2014
Roy C. Bartholomay, Brian V. Twining
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5085
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy, has maintained a water-level monitoring program at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) since 1949 to systematically measure water levels to provide long-term information on groundwater recharge, discharge, movement, and storage in the eastern Snake River Plain (ESRP) aquifer....
An empirical evaluation of landscape energetic models: Mallard and American black duck space use during the non-breeding period
William S. Beatty, Elisabeth B. Webb, Dylan C. Kesler, Luke W. Naylor, Andrew H. Raedeke, Dale D. Humburg, John M. Coluccy, G. Soulliere
2015, Journal of Wildlife Management (79) 1141-1151
Bird conservation Joint Ventures are collaborative partnerships between public agencies and private organizations that facilitate habitat management to support waterfowl and other bird populations. A subset of Joint Ventures has developed energetic carrying capacity models (ECCs) to translate regional waterfowl population goals into habitat objectives during the non-breeding period. Energetic...
Detection of snake fungal disease due to Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola in Virginia, USA
Amanda L. Guthrie, Susan Knowles, Anne Ballmann, Jeffrey M. Lorch
2015, Journal of Wildlife Diseases (52) 143-149
Snake fungal disease (SFD) is an emerging disease of wildlife believed to be caused by Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola. Although geographic and host ranges have yet to be determined, this disease is characterized by crusty scales, superficial pustules, and subcutaneous nodules, with subsequent morbidity and mortality in some snake species. To confirm the...
Geologic map of the Orchard 7.5' quadrangle, Morgan County, Colorado
Margaret E. Berry, Janet L. Slate, Paul R. Hanson, Theodore R. Brandt
2015, Scientific Investigations Map 3331
The Orchard 7.5' quadrangle is located along the South Platte River corridor on the semi-arid plains of eastern Colorado, and contains surficial deposits that record alluvial, eolian, and hillslope processes that have operated through environmental changes from the Pleistocene to the present. The South Platte River, originating high in the...
Weathering and transport of chromium and nickel from serpentinite in the Coast Range ophiolite to the Sacramento Valley, California, USA
Jean M. Morrison, Martin B. Goldhaber, Christopher T. Mills, George N. Breit, Robert L. Hooper, JoAnn M. Holloway, Sharon F. Diehl, James F. Ranville
2015, Applied Geochemistry (62) 72-86
A soil geochemical study in northern California was done to investigate the role that weathering and transport play in the regional distribution and mobility of geogenic Cr and Ni, which are both potentially toxic and carcinogenic. These elements are enriched in ultramafic rocks (primarily serpentinite) and the soils derived from...
California State Waters Map Series — Offshore of Salt Point, California
Samuel Y. Johnson, Peter Dartnell, Nadine E. Golden, Stephen R. Hartwell, Mercedes D. Erdey, H. Gary Greene, Guy R. Cochrane, Rikk G. Kvitek, Michael W. Manson, Charles A. Endris, Bryan E. Dieter, Janet Watt, Lisa M. Krigsman, Ray W. Sliter, Erik N. Lowe, John L. Chinn
Samuel Y. Johnson, Susan A. Cochran, editor(s)
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1098
In 2007, the California Ocean Protection Council initiated the California Seafloor Mapping Program (CSMP), designed to create a comprehensive seafloor map of high-resolution bathymetry, marine benthic habitats, and geology within the 3-nautical-mile limit of California’s State Waters. The CSMP approach is to create highly detailed seafloor maps through collection, integration,...
Changes in total phosphorus concentration in the Red River of the North Basin, 1970-2012
Karen R. Ryberg, F. Adnan Akyuz, Wei Lin
2015, Conference Paper, ASABE/CSBE North Central Intersectional Meeting Papers
The Red River of the North drains much of eastern North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota and flows north into Manitoba, Canada, ultimately into Lake Winnipeg; therefore, water quality is an International concern. With increased runoff in the past few decades, phosphorus flux (the amount of phosphorus transported by the river)...
Repeated count surveys help standardize multi-agency estimates of American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus) abundance
Nathan J. Hostetter, Beth Gardner, Sara H. Schweitzer, Ruth Boettcher, Alexandra L. Wilke, Lindsay Addison, William R. Swilling, Kenneth H. Pollock, Theodore R. Simons
2015, The Condor (117) 354-363
The extensive breeding range of many shorebird species can make integration of survey data problematic at regional spatial scales. We evaluated the effectiveness of standardized repeated count surveys coordinated across 8 agencies to estimate the abundance of American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus) breeding pairs in the southeastern United States. Breeding season...
Celestine-bearing geodes from Wayne and Emery counties, southeastern Utah: Genesis and mineralogy
Daniel E. Kile, Richard D. Dayvault, William C. Hood, H. Steven Hatch
2015, Rocks & Minerals (90) 314-337
Geodes containing celestine with associated quartz, calcite, chlorite, and other minerals occur in the Jurassic Curtis Formation of Emery and Wayne counties off the east and south flanks of the San Rafael Swell in southeastern Utah. The two areas discussed in this article produce geodes to 25 cm wide containing...
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...
Water levels and water quality in the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer in eastern Arkansas, 2012
Tony P. Schrader
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5059
During the spring of 2012, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission and the Arkansas Geological Survey, measured water levels in 342 wells completed in the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer in eastern Arkansas. The Arkansas Natural Resources Commission measured water levels in 11 wells,...
Restoration of oyster reefs in an estuarine lake: population dynamics and shell accretion
Sandra M. Casas, Jerome F. La Peyre, Megan La Peyre
2015, Marine Ecology Progress Series (524) 171-184
Restoration activities inherently depend on understanding the spatial and temporal variation in basic demographic rates of the species of interest. For species that modify and maintain their own habitat such as the eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica, understanding demographic rates and their impacts on population and habitat success are crucial to...
Hydrologic model of the Modesto Region, California, 1960-2004
Steven P. Phillips, Diane L. Rewis, Jonathan A. Traum
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5045
Strategies for managing water supplies and groundwater quality in the Modesto region of the eastern San Joaquin Valley, California, are being formulated and evaluated by the Stanislaus and Tuolumne Rivers Groundwater Basin Association. Management issues and goals in the basin include an area in the lower part of the basin...
Effects of oyster harvest activities on Louisiana reef habitat and resident nekton communities
Steve Beck, Megan K. LaPeyre
2015, Fishery Bulletin (113) 327-340
Oysters are often cited as “ecosystem engineers” because they modify their environment. Coastal Louisiana contains extensive oyster reef areas that have been harvested for decades, and whether differences in habitat functions exist between those areas and nonharvested reefs is unclear. We compared reef physical structure and resident community metrics between...
Sixth International Limnogeology Congress: field trip guidebook, Reno, Nevada, June 15-19, 2015
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1108
Limnogeology is the study of modern lakes and lake deposits in the geologic record. Limnogeologists have been active since the 1800s, but interest in Limnogeology became prevalent in the early 1990s when it became clear that lake deposits contain continental environmental and climate records. A society that is focused on...
Landscape disturbance from unconventional and conventional oil and gas development in the Marcellus Shale region of Pennsylvania, USA
Terry E. Slonecker, Lesley E. Milheim
2015, Environments (2) 200-220
The spatial footprint of unconventional (hydraulic fracturing) and conventional oil and gas development in the Marcellus Shale region of the State of Pennsylvania was digitized from high-resolution, ortho-rectified, digital aerial photography, from 2004 to 2010. We used these data to measure the spatial extent of oil and gas development and...
Dynamic rupture models of earthquakes on the Bartlett Springs Fault, Northern California
Julian C. Lozos, Ruth A. Harris, Jessica R. Murray, James J. Lienkaemper
2015, Geophysical Research Letters (42) 4343-4349
The Bartlett Springs Fault (BSF), the easternmost branch of the northern San Andreas Fault system, creeps along much of its length. Geodetic data for the BSF are sparse, and surface creep rates are generally poorly constrained. The two existing geodetic slip rate inversions resolve at least one locked patch within...
Accounting for groundwater in stream fish thermal habitat responses to climate change
Craig D. Snyder, Nathaniel P. Hitt, John A. Young
2015, Ecological Applications (25) 1397-1419
Forecasting climate change effects on aquatic fauna and their habitat requires an understanding of how water temperature responds to changing air temperature (i.e., thermal sensitivity). Previous efforts to forecast climate effects on brook trout habitat have generally assumed uniform air-water temperature relationships over large areas that cannot account for groundwater...
SHRIMP U–Pb and REE data pertaining to the origins of xenotime in Belt Supergroup rocks: evidence for ages of deposition, hydrothermal alteration, and metamorphism
John N. Aleinikoff, Karen Lund, C. Mark Fanning
2015, Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences (52) 722-745
The Belt–Purcell Supergroup, northern Idaho, western Montana, and southern British Columbia, is a thick succession of Mesoproterozoic sedimentary rocks with an age range of about 1470–1400 Ma. Stratigraphic layers within several sedimentary units were sampled to apply the new technique of U–Pb dating of xenotime that sometimes forms as rims...
Application of U-Th-Pb phosphate geochronology to young orogenic gold deposits: New age constraints on the formation of the Grass Valley gold district, Sierra Foothills province, California
Ryan D. Taylor, Richard J. Goldfarb, Thomas Monecke, Ian R. Fletcher, Michael A. Cosca, Nigel M. Kelly
2015, Economic Geology (110) 1313-1337
The Grass Valley orogenic gold district in the Sierra Nevada foothills province, central California, the largest historic gold producer of the North American Cordillera, comprises both steeply dipping east-west (E-W) veins located along lithologic contacts in accreted ca. 300 and 200 Ma oceanic rocks and shallowly dipping north-south (N-S) veins...
