Entrainment of bed material by Earth-surface mass flows: review and reformulation of depth-integrated theory
Richard M. Iverson, Chaojun Ouyang
2015, Reviews of Geophysics (53) 1-32
Earth-surface mass flows such as debris flows, rock avalanches, and dam-break floods can grow greatly in size and destructive potential by entraining bed material they encounter. Increasing use of depth-integrated mass- and momentum-conservation equations to model these erosive flows motivates a review of the underlying theory. Our review indicates that...
Limnogeology, news in brief
Michael R. Rosen, Elizabeth Gierlowski-Kordesch
2015, Environmental Earth Sciences (73) 913-917
We've invited Michael R. Rosen, water quality specialist within the USGS Water Science Field Team in Carson City and Elizabeth Gierlowski-Kordesch, professor of geology at Ohio University, to take a look at the intriguing new developments that are emerging in limnogeologic studies. These studies are increasing our understanding of how...
Coles Hill Uranium Deposit, Virginia, United States, and the Application of UNFC-2009
Susan M. Hall
2015, Book chapter, Application of UNFC to Nuclear Fuel Resources - Selected Case Studies
The case study presented here reviews the uranium resource estimates and summarizes the property situation of the Coles Hill uranium Deposit. Uranium resources at Coles Hill are then classified according to UNFC-2009. The Coles Hill Deposit is located in Pittsylvania County, southern Virginia, United States (Figure 14). Coles Hill was...
A summary of the late Cenozoic stratigraphic and tectonic history of the Santa Clara Valley, California
Victoria E. Langenheim, Robert C. Jachens, Carl M. Wentworth, Russell W. Graymer, Richard G. Stanley, Robert J. McLaughlin, Robert W. Simpson, Robert A. Williams, D. W. Andersen, David A. Ponce
2015, Geosphere (11) 50-62
The late Cenozoic stratigraphic and tectonic history of the Santa Clara Valley illustrates the dynamic nature of the North American–Pacific plate boundary and its effect on basin and landscape development. Prior to early Miocene time, the area that became Santa Clara Valley consisted of eroding Franciscan complex basement structurally interleaved...
Yellowstone grizzly bear investigations — Annual report of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team 2014
Frank T. van Manen, Mark A. Haroldson, Suzanna C. Soileau, editor(s)
2015, Report
This Annual Report summarizes results of grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) monitoring and research conducted in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team (IGBST) during 2014. The report also contains a summary of grizzly bear management actions to address conflict situations. ...
Book reviews: The Double-crested Cormorant, plight of a feathered pariah, by L.R. Wires/The birds of New Hampshire by Allan R, Keith and Robert P. Fox
R. Todd Engstrom, Daniel D. Roby, Jon S. Greenlaw
2015, The Auk (132) 315-317
No abstract available....
Evaluation of vector coastline features extracted from 'structure from motion'-derived elevation data
Nicole Kinsman, Ann E. Gibbs, Matt Nolan
2015, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the Coastal Sediments 2015
For extensive and remote coastlines, the absence of high-quality elevation models—for example, those produced with lidar—leaves some coastal populations lacking one of the essential elements for mapping shoreline positions or flood extents. Here, we compare seven different elevation products in a lowlying area in western Alaska to establish their appropriateness...
Potential nitrogen critical loads for northern Great Plains grassland vegetation
Amy J. Symstad, Anine T. Smith, Wesley E. Newton, Alan K. Knapp
2015, Natural Resource Report NPS/NGPN/NRR - 2015/989
The National Park Service is concerned that increasing atmospheric nitrogen deposition caused by fossil fuel combustion and agricultural activities could adversely affect the northern Great Plains (NGP) ecosystems in its trust. The critical load concept facilitates communication between scientists and policy makers or land managers by translating the complex effects...
The 2008 phreatomagmatic eruption of Okmok volcano, Aleutian Islands, Alaska: Chronology, deposits, and landform changes
Jessica Larsen, Christina A. Neal, Janet R. Schaefer, Max Kaufman, Zhong Lu
2015, Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys Report of Investigation RI 2015-2
Okmok volcano, Aleutian Islands, Alaska, explosively erupted over a five-week period between July 12 and August 23, 2008. The eruption was predominantly phreatomagmatic, producing fine-grained tephra that covered most of northeastern Umnak Island. The eruption had a maximum Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) of 4, with eruption column heights up to...
Do laboratory species protect endangered species? Interspecies variation in responses to 17β-estradiol, a model endocrine active compound
Zachary G. Jorgenson, Kevin J. Buhl, Stephen E. Bartell, Heiko L. Schoenfuss
2015, Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology (68) 204-215
Although the effects of estrogens on model laboratory species are well documented, their utility as surrogates for other species, including those listed as endangered, are less clear. Traditionally, conservation policies are evaluated based on model organism responses but are intended to protect all species in an environment. We tested the...
Mineral potential for sediment-hosted copper deposits in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania (phase V, deliverable 75)
Cliff D. Taylor, Stuart A. Giles
2015, Open-File Report 2013-1280-K
The presence of Neoproterozoic through Cambrian, continental, siliciclastic sedimentary rocks interbedded with dolomitic carbonates, shales, and glacial tillites similar to the Katanga Supergroup host rocks of the Central African Copperbelt and other sediment-hosted copper-bearing Proterozoic sequences worldwide, is first order criteria for consideration of the Neoproterozoic units of the Taoudeni...
Terrestrial Carbon Sequestration in National Parks: Values for the Conterminous United States
Leslie A. Richardson, Christopher Huber, Zhi-Liang Zhu, Lynne Koontz
2015, Natural Resource Report NPS/NRSS/EQD/NRR-2014/880
Lands managed by the National Park Service (NPS) provide a wide range of beneficial services to the American public. This study quantifies the ecosystem service value of carbon sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems within NPS units in the conterminous United States for which data were available. Combining annual net carbon balance...
Inferring spatial and temporal behavioral patterns of free-ranging manatees using saltwater sensors of telemetry tags
Delma Nataly Castelblanco-Martinez, Benjamin Morales-Vela, Daniel H. Slone, Janneth Adriana Padilla-Saldivar, James P. Reid, Hector Abuid Hernandez-Arana
2015, Mammalian Biology (80) 21-30
Diving or respiratory behavior in aquatic mammals can be used as an indicator of physiological activity and consequently, to infer behavioral patterns. Five Antillean manatees, Trichechus manatus manatus, were captured in Chetumal Bay and tagged with GPS tracking devices. The radios were equipped with a micropower saltwater sensor (SWS), which...
Characterizing toxicity of metal-contaminated sediments from mining areas
John M. Besser, William G. Brumbaugh, Christopher G. Ingersoll
2015, Applied Geochemistry (57) 73-84
This paper reviews methods for testing the toxicity of metals associated with freshwater sediments, linking toxic effects with metal exposure and bioavailability, and developing sediment quality guidelines. The most broadly applicable approach for characterizing metal toxicity is whole-sediment toxicity testing, which attempts to simulate natural exposure conditions in the laboratory....
Evidence for intercontinental parasite exchange through molecular detection and characterization of haematozoa in northern pintails (Anas acuta) sampled throughout the North Pacific Basin
Andrew M. Ramey, Joel A. Schmutz, John A. Reed, Go Fujita, Bradley D. Scotton, Bruce Casler, Joseph P. Fleskes, Kan Konishi, Kiyoshi Uchida, Michael J. Yabsley
2015, International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife (4) 11-21
Empirical evidence supports wild birds as playing a role in the interhemispheric exchange of bacteria and viruses; however, data supporting the redistribution of parasites among continents are limited. In this study, the hypothesis that migratory birds contribute to the redistribution of parasites between continents was tested by sampling northern pintails...
Completion of the 2011 National Land Cover Database for the conterminous United States – Representing a decade of land cover change information
Collin G. Homer, Jon Dewitz, Limin Yang, Suming Jin, Patrick Danielson, George Z. Xian, John Coulston, Nathaniel Herold, James Wickham, Kevin Megown
2015, Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing (81) 345-354
The National Land Cover Database (NLCD) provides nationwide data on land cover and land cover change at the native 30-m spatial resolution of the Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM). The database is designed to provide five-year cyclical updating of United States land cover and associated changes. The recent release of NLCD...
Small lakes show muted climate change signal in deepwater temperatures
Luke A. Winslow, Jordan S. Read, Gretchen J. A. Hansen, Paul C. Hanson
2015, Geophysical Research Letters (42) 355-361
Water temperature observations were collected from 142 lakes across Wisconsin, USA, to examine variation in temperature of lakes exposed to similar regional climate. Whole lake water temperatures increased across the state from 1990 to 2012, with an average trend of 0.042°C yr−1 ± 0.01°C yr−1. In large (>0.5 km2) lakes, the positive temperature trend was...
An assessment of arthropod prey resources at Nakula Natural Area Reserve, a potential site of reintroduction for Kiwikiu (Pseudonestor xanthophrys) and Maui `Alauahio (Parareomyza montana)
Paul C. Banko, Robert W. Peck, Justin Cappadonna, Claire Steele, David L. Leonard, Hanna L. Mounce, Dusti Becker, Kirsty Swinnerton
2015, Technical Report HCSU-059
Hawaiian forest birds have declined dramatically since humans arrived in the archipelago. Birds from all foraging guilds have been affected but insectivorous species are currently at greatest risk of extinction. On the island of Maui, populations and ranges of the insectivorous kiwikiu (Maui parrotbill; Pseudonestor xanthophrys) and Maui ‘alauahio (Maui...
2014 National Park visitor spending effects: economic contributions to local communities, states, and the nation
Catherine Cullinane Thomas, Christopher Huber, Lynne Koontz
2015, Natural Resource Report NPS/NRSS/EQD/NRR—2015/947
The National Park System covers more than 84 million acres and is comprised of more than 401 sites across the Nation. These lands managed by the National Park Service (NPS) serve as recreational destinations for visitors from across the Nation and around the world. On vacations or on day trips,...
Chronology and ecology of late Pleistocene megafauna in the northern Willamette Valley, Oregon
Daniel M. Gilmour, Virginia L. Butler, James E. O'Connor, Edward Byrd Davis, Brendan J. Culleton, Douglas J. Kennett, Gregory W. L. Hodgins
2015, Quaternary Research (83) 127-136
Since the mid-19th century, western Oregon's Willamette Valley has been a source of remains from a wide variety of extinct megafauna. Few of these have been previously described or dated, but new chronologic and isotopic analyses in conjunction with updated evaluations of stratigraphic context provide substantial new information on the...
Evidence of the St. Clair-Detroit River system as a dispersal corridor and nursery habitat for transient larval burbot
Darrin E. McCullough, Edward F. Roseman, Kevin M. Keeler, Robin L. DeBruyne, Jeremy J. Pritt, Patricia A. Thompson, Stacey A. Ireland, Jason E. Ross, Dustin Bowser, Robert D. Hunter, Dana Kristina Castle, Jason Fischer, Stacy A. Provo
2015, Hydrobiologia (757) 21-34
Burbot Lota lota are distributed across the Laurentian Great Lakes where they occupy a top piscivore role. The St. Clair-Detroit River System is known to provide a migration corridor as well as spawning and nursery habitat for many indigenous fishes of economic and ecological significance. However, knowledge is scant of the...
Geochemical reanalysis of historical U.S. Geological Survey sediment samples from the Zane Hills, Hughes and Shungnak 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...
Reported industrial minerals occurrences and permissive areas for other occurrences in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, (phase V, deliverable 89)
William H. Langer
2015, Open-File Report 2013-1280-R
Previous PRISM reports discuss a variety of industrial minerals. Gypsum, phosphate, salt, stone, sulfur, and ilmenite command the majority of the attention in the earlier geologic reports. (Ilmenite is evaluated in a separate U.S. Geological Survey report in the current study). Asbestos, arsenic, barite, fluorite, and kaolin are listed in...
Algoma-, Superior-, and oolitic-type iron deposits of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania (phase V, deliverable 83)
Cliff D. Taylor, Carol A. Finn, Eric D. Anderson, M. Y. Joud, M. A. Taleb, John D. Horton
2015, Open-File Report 2013-1280-O
High-grade hematitic iron ores (or HIF, containing 60–65 percent Fe) have been mined in Mauritania from Superior-type iron deposits since 1952. Depletion of the high grade ores in recent years has resulted in a number of new projects focused on lower grade magnetite ores in Algoma-type banded iron formation (or...
Ants of the national park of American Samoa
Paul C. Banko, Robert W. Peck
2015, Technical Report HCSU-061
American Samoa makes up the eastern end of the Samoan Archipelago. On the islands of Tutuila, Taʽū and Ofu, the National Park of American Samoa (NPSA) protects about 4,000 ha of coastal, mid-slope and ridge-top forest. While the ant fauna of the Samoan Archipelago is considered relatively well documented, much...
