On a report that the 2012 M 6.0 earthquake in Italy was predicted after seeing an unusual cloud formation
J.N. Thomas, F. Masci, Jeffrey J. Love
2015, Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences (15) 1061-1068
Several recently published reports have suggested that semi-stationary linear-cloud formations might be causally precursory to earthquakes. We examine the report of Guangmeng and Jie (2013), who claim to have predicted the 2012 M 6.0 earthquake in the Po Valley of northern Italy after seeing a satellite photograph (a digital image) showing a...
A formalized approach to making effective natural resource management decisions for Alaska National Parks
Margaret C. MacCluskie, Angela Romito, James T. Peterson, James P. Lawler
2015, Alaska Park Science (14) 9-13
A fundamental goal of the National Park Service (NPS) is the long-term protection and management of resources in the National Park System. Reaching this goal requires multiple approaches, including the conservation of essential habitats and the identification and elimination of potential threats to biota and habitats. To accomplish these goals,...
Application of science-based restoration planning to a desert river system
Brian G. Laub, Justin Jimenez, Phaedra E. Budy
2015, Environmental Management (55) 1246-1261
Persistence of many desert river species is threatened by a suite of impacts linked to water infrastructure projects that provide human water security where water is scarce. Many desert rivers have undergone regime shifts from spatially and temporally dynamic ecosystems to more stable systems dominated by homogenous physical habitat. Restoration...
Spatial and temporal use of a prairie dog colony by coyotes and rabbits: Potential indirect effects on endangered black-footed ferrets
David A. Eads, Dean E. Biggins, Travis M. Livieri
2015, Journal of Zoology (296) 146-152
In western North America, endangered black-footed ferrets Mustela nigripes are conserved via reintroduction to colonies of prairie dogs Cynomys spp., their primary prey. Predation is an important source of mortality; coyotes Canis latrans appear to be the most problematic predator, accounting for 67% of known predation events on radio-tagged ferrets. Little is known about what factors...
Pressure disequilibria induced by rapid valve closure in noble gas extraction lines
Leah E. Morgan, Brett Davidheiser-Kroll
2015, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (16) 1923-1931
Pressure disequilibria during rapid valve closures can affect calculated molar quantities for a range of gas abundance measurements (e.g., K-Ar geochronology, (U-Th)/He geochronology, noble gas cosmogenic chronology). Modeling indicates this effect in a system with a 10 L reservoir reaches a bias of 1% before 1000 pipette aliquants have been...
Sediment source apportionment in Laurel Hill Creek, PA, using Bayesian chemical mass balance and isotope fingerprinting
Heather Stewart, Arash Massoudieh, Allen C. Gellis
2015, Hydrological Processes (29) 2545-2560
A Bayesian chemical mass balance (CMB) approach was used to assess the contribution of potential sources for fluvial samples from Laurel Hill Creek in southwest Pennsylvania. The Bayesian approach provides joint probability density functions of the sources' contributions considering the uncertainties due to source and fluvial sample heterogeneity and measurement...
Newberry Volcano's youngest lava flows
Joel E. Robinson, Julie M. Donnelly-Nolan, Robert A. Jensen
2015, Scientific Investigations Map 3329
Most of Newberry Volcano's youngest lava flows are found within the Newberry National Volcanic Monument in central Oregon. Established November 5, 1990, the monument is managed by the U.S. Forest Service as part of the Deschutes National Forest. Since 2011, a series of aerial surveys over the monument collected elevation...
Phytoplankton blooms in estuarine and coastal waters: Seasonal patterns and key species
Jacob Carstensen, Riina Klais, James E. Cloern
2015, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science (162) 98-109
Phytoplankton blooms are dynamic phenomena of great importance to the functioning of estuarine and coastal ecosystems. We analysed a unique (large) collection of phytoplankton monitoring data covering 86 coastal sites distributed over eight regions in North America and Europe, with the aim of investigating common patterns in the seasonal timing...
When Siberia came to the Netherlands: The response of continental black-tailed godwits to a rare spring weather event
Nathan R. Senner, Mo A. Verhoeven, Jose M. Abad-Gomez, Jorge S. Gutierrez, Jos C. E. W. Hooijmeijer, Rosemarie Kentie, Jose A. Masero, T. Lee Tibbitts, Theunis Piersma
2015, Journal of Animal Ecology (84) 1164-1176
Summary Extreme weather events have the potential to alter both short- and long-term population dynamics as well as community- and ecosystem-level function. Such events are rare and stochastic, making it difficult to fully document how organisms respond to them and predict the repercussions of similar events in...
The 3D Elevation Program: summary for Connecticut
William J. Carswell Jr.
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3036
Elevation data are essential to a broad range of applications, including forest resources management, wildlife and habitat management, national security, recreation, and many others. For the State of Connecticut, elevation data are critical for coastal zone management, flood risk management, natural resources conservation, agriculture and precision farming, sea level rise...
Continuous monitoring of sediment and nutrients in the Illinois River at Florence, Illinois, 2012-13
Paul J. Terrio, Timothy D. Straub, Marian M. Domanski, Nicholas A. Siudyla
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5040
The Illinois River is the largest river in Illinois and is the primary contributing watershed for nitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended-sediment loading to the upper Mississippi River from Illinois. In addition to streamflow, the following water-quality constituents were monitored at the Illinois River at Florence, Illinois (U.S. Geological Survey station number...
Water resources of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana
Vincent E. White, Lawrence B. Prakken
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3001
Information concerning the availability, use, and quality of water in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, is critical for proper water-supply management. The purpose of this fact sheet is to present information that can be used by water managers, parish residents, and others for stewardship of this vital resource. Information on...
Soil- and groundwater-quality data for petroleum hydrocarbon compounds within Fuels Area C, Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota, 2014
David A. Bender, Barbara L. Rowe
2015, Data Series 939
Ellsworth Air Force Base is an Air Combat Command located approximately 10 miles northeast of Rapid City, South Dakota. Ellsworth Air Force Base occupies about 6,000 acres within Meade and Pennington Counties, and includes runways, airfield operations, industrial areas, housing, and recreational facilities. Fuels Area C within Ellsworth Air Force...
Integrated Environmental Modelling: Human decisions, human challenges
Pierre D. Glynn
2015, Geological Society of London Special Publications (408)
Integrated Environmental Modelling (IEM) is an invaluable tool for understanding the complex, dynamic ecosystems that house our natural resources and control our environments. Human behaviour affects the ways in which the science of IEM is assembled and used for meaningful societal applications. In particular, human biases and heuristics reflect adaptation...
The 3D Elevation Program: summary for Delaware
William J. Carswell Jr.
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3031
Elevation data are essential to a broad range of applications, including forest resources management, wildlife and habitat management, national security, recreation, and many others. For the State of Delaware, elevation data are critical for agriculture and precision farming, river and stream resource management, natural resources conservation, flood risk management, coastal...
Fundamentals of carbon dioxide-enhanced oil recovery (CO2-EOR): a supporting document of the assessment methodology for hydrocarbon recovery using CO2-EOR associated with carbon sequestration
Mahendra K. Verma
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1071
The objective of this report is to provide basic technical information regarding the CO2-EOR process, which is at the core of the assessment methodology, to estimate the technically recoverable oil within the fields of the identified sedimentary basins of the United States. Emphasis is on CO2-EOR because this is currently...
Age, growth rates, and paleoclimate studies of deep sea corals
Nancy G Prouty, E. Brendan Roark, Allen Andrews, Laura Robinson, Tessa Hill, Owen Sherwood, Branwen Williams, Thomas P. Guilderson, Stewart Fallon
2015, Report, The state of deep-sea coral and sponge ecosystems of the United States: 2015
Deep-water corals are some of the slowest growing, longest-lived skeletal accreting marine organisms. These habitat-forming species support diverse faunal assemblages that include commercially and ecologically important organisms. Therefore, effective management and conservation strategies for deep-sea corals can be informed by precise and accurate age, growth rate, and lifespan characteristics for...
Development of conceptual ecological models linking management of the Missouri River to pallid sturgeon population dynamics
Robert B. Jacobson, Michael J. Parsley, Mandy L. Annis, Michael E. Colvin, Timothy L. Welker, Daniel A. James
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1038
This report documents the process of developing and refining conceptual ecological models (CEMs) for linking river management to pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus) population dynamics in the Missouri River. The refined CEMs are being used in the Missouri River Pallid Sturgeon Effects Analysis to organize, document, and formalize an understanding of...
A stochastic bioenergetics model based approach to translating large river flow and temperature in to fish population responses: The pallid sturgeon example
Mark L. Wildhaber, Rima Dey, Christopher K. Wikle, Edward H. Moran, Christopher J. Anderson, Kristie J. Franz
2015, Geological Society of London Special Publications (408) 1-17
In managing fish populations, especially at-risk species, realistic mathematical models are needed to help predict population response to potential management actions in the context of environmental conditions and changing climate while effectively incorporating the stochastic nature of real world conditions. We provide a key component of such a model for...
Literature review of the potential effects of hydrogen peroxide on nitrogen oxidation efficiency of the biofilters of recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) for freshwater finfish
Kim T. Fredricks
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1096
A comprehensive literature review was done for the effects of hydrogen peroxide (HP) on biofilter function in recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) using these databases: ISI/Web of Knowledge, Scopus, and Pubmed. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were developed as the literature review was conducted. The initial search produced 5,748 potential citations. Once...
Literature review of the potential effects of formalin on nitrogen oxidation efficiency of the biofilters of recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) for freshwater finfish
Kim T. Fredricks
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1097
A comprehensive literature review was done for the effects of formalin on biofilter function in recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) using these databases: ISI/Web of Knowledge, Scopus, and Pubmed. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were developed as the literature review was conducted. The initial search produced 5,682 potential citations. Once the literature...
Fall spawning of Atlantic sturgeon in the Roanoke River, North Carolina
Joseph A. Smith, Joseph E. Hightower, H. Jared Flowers
2015, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (144) 48-54
In 2012, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) declared Atlantic Sturgeon Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus to be threatened or endangered throughout its range in U.S. waters. Restoration of the subspecies will require much new information, particularly on the location and timing of spawning. We used a combination of acoustic telemetry and sampling...
Sea level, paleogeography, and archeology on California's Northern Channel Islands
Leslie Reeder-Myers, Jon M. Erlandson, Daniel R. Muhs, Torben C. Rick
2015, Quaternary Research (83) 263-272
Sea-level rise during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene inundated nearshore areas in many parts of the world, producing drastic changes in local ecosystems and obscuring significant portions of the archeological record. Although global forces are at play, the effects of sea-level rise are highly localized due to variability in...
Depositional conditions for the Kuna Formation, Red Dog Zn-PB-Ag-Barite District, Alaska, inferred from isotopic and chemical proxies
Craig A. Johnson, Julie A. Dumoulin, Robert A. Burruss, John F. Slack
2015, Economic Geology (110) 1143-1156
Water column redox conditions, degree of restriction of the depositional basin, and other paleoenvironmental parameters have been determined for the Mississippian Kuna Formation of northwestern Alaska from stratigraphic profiles of Mo, Fe/Al, and S isotopes in pyrite, C isotopes in organic matter, and N isotopes in bulk rock. This unit...
Late Quaternary sea-level history and the antiquity of mammoths (Mammuthus exilis and Mammuthus columbi), Channel Islands NationalPark, California, USA
Daniel R. Muhs, Kathleen R. Simmons, Lindsey T. Groves, John P. McGeehin, R. Randall Schumann, Larry D. Agenbroad
2015, Quaternary Research (83) 502-521
Fossils of Columbian mammoths (Mammuthus columbi) and pygmy mammoths (Mammuthus exilis) have been reported from Channel Islands National Park, California. Most date to the last glacial period (Marine Isotope Stage [MIS] 2), but a tusk of M. exilis (or immature M. columbi) was found in the lowest marine terrace of Santa Rosa Island....
