Laboratory constraints on models of earthquake recurrence
Nicholas M. Beeler, Terry Tullis, Jenni Junger, Brian D. Kilgore, David L. Goldsby
2014, Journal of Geophysical Research (119) 8770-8791
In this study, rock friction ‘stick-slip’ experiments are used to develop constraints on models of earthquake recurrence. Constant-rate loading of bare rock surfaces in high quality experiments produces stick-slip recurrence that is periodic at least to second order. When the loading rate is varied, recurrence is approximately inversely proportional to...
Empirical models for predicting volumes of sediment deposited by debris flows and sediment-laden floods in the transverse ranges of southern California
Joseph E. Gartner, Susan H. Cannon, Paul M Santi
2014, Engineering Geology (176) 45-56
Debris flows and sediment-laden floods in the Transverse Ranges of southern California pose severe hazards to nearby communities and infrastructure. Frequent wildfires denude hillslopes and increase the likelihood of these hazardous events. Debris-retention basins protect communities and infrastructure from the impacts of debris flows and sediment-laden floods and also provide...
U.S. Geological Survey external quality-assurance project report for the National Atmospheric Deposition Program / National Trends Network and Mercury Deposition Network, 2011-2012
Gregory A. Wetherbee, RoseAnn Martin
2014, Report
The U.S. Geological Survey operated six distinct programs to provide external quality-assurance monitoring for the National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP) / National Trends Network (NTN) and Mercury Deposition Network (MDN) during 2011–2012. The field-audit program assessed the effects of onsite exposure, sample handling, and shipping on the chemistry of NTN...
USGS/EPA collection protocol for bacterial pathogens in soil
Dale W. Griffin, F.L. Shaefer, Charlena Bowling, Dino Mattorano, Tonya Nichols, Erin Silvestri
2014, Report
This Sample Collection Procedure (SCP) describes the activities and considerations for the collection of bacterial pathogens from representative surface soil samples (0-5 cm). This sampling depth can be reached without the use of a drill rig, direct-push technology, or other mechanized equipment. This procedure can be used in most soil...
Response to L. Land comment on Bricker, Rice, Bricker (2014) From Headwaters to Coast: Influence of human activities on water quality of the Potomac River Estuary. Aquatic Geochemistry 20: 291-324
Suzanne B. Bricker, Karen C. Rice, III Owen Bricker Owen, P.
2014, Aquatic Geochemistry (20) 459-463
Overabundance of nutrients is considered one of the top challenges to most populated coastal water bodies, including Chesapeake Bay (Executive Order 13508). As scientists, one of our responsibilities is to contribute to the discussion and evaluation of management actions that have the potential to decrease pollution with concomitant improvement of...
Comparison of mineral weathering and biomass nutrient uptake in two small forested watersheds underlain by quartzite bedrock, Catoctin Mountain, Maryland, USA
Karen C. Rice, Jason R. Price
2014, Aquatic Geochemistry (20) 225-242
To quantify chemical weathering and biological uptake, mass-balance calculations were performed on two small forested watersheds located in the Blue Ridge Physiographic Province in north-central Maryland, USA. Both watersheds, Bear Branch (BB) and Fishing Creek Tributary (FCT), are underlain by relatively unreactive quartzite bedrock. Such unreactive bedrock and associated low...
Groundwater conditions in Utah, spring of 2014
Carole B. Burden, Adam S. Birken, Steven J. Gerner, John P. Carricaburu, V. Noah Derrick, Paul Downhour, Lincoln Smith, Robert J. Eacret, Travis L. Gibson, Bradley A. Slaugh, Nickolas R. Whittier, James H. Howells, Howard K. Christiansen, Martel J. Fisher
2014, Cooperative Investigations Report 55
This is the fifty-first in a series of annual reports that describe groundwater conditions in Utah. Reports in this series, published cooperatively by the U.S. Geological Survey and the Utah Department of Natural Resources, Division of Water Rights, and the Utah Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Water Quality, provide...
Fate of nutrients in shallow groundwater receiving treated septage, Malibu, CA
John A. Izbicki
2014, Groundwater (52) 218-233
Treated wastewater discharged from more than 400 onsite wastewater treatment systems (OWTS) near the Civic Center area of Malibu, California, 40 km west of downtown Los Angeles, composes 28% of the recharge to a 3.4 km2 alluvial aquifer. On the basis of δ18O and δD data, the fraction of wastewater in...
Fine scale habitat use by age-1 stocked muskellunge and wild northern pike in an upper St. Lawrence River bay
John M. Farrell, Kevin L. Kapuscinski, H. Brian Underwood
2014, Journal of Great Lakes Research (40, Supplement 2) 148-153
Radio telemetry of stocked muskellunge (n = 6) and wild northern pike (n = 6) was used to track late summer and fall movements from a common release point in a known shared nursery bay to test the hypothesis that age-1 northern pike and stocked muskellunge segregate and have different habitat affinities. Water depth,...
Influences of glacial melt and permafrost thaw on the age of dissolved organic carbon in the Yukon River basin
George R. Aiken, Robert G.M. Spencer, Robert G. Striegl, Paul F. Schuster, Peter A. Raymond
2014, Global Biogeochemical Cycles (28) 525-537
Responses of near-surface permafrost and glacial ice to climate change are of particular significance for understanding long-term effects on global carbon cycling and carbon export by high-latitude northern rivers. Here we report Δ14C-dissolved organic carbon (DOC) values and dissolved organic matter optical data for the Yukon River, 15...
Collaborative modelling and integrated decision support system analysis of a developed terminal lake basin
Richard G. Niswonger, Kip K. Allander, Anne E. Jeton
2014, Journal of Hydrology (517) 521-537
A terminal lake basin in west-central Nevada, Walker Lake, has undergone drastic change over the past 90 yrs due to upstream water use for agriculture. Decreased inflows to the lake have resulted in 100 km2 decrease in lake surface area and a total loss of fisheries due to salinization. The ecologic health of...
Reduced disease in black abalone following mass mortality: Phage therapy and natural selection
Glenn R. VanBlaricom
2014, Frontiers in Microbiology (5) 10
Black abalone, Haliotis cracherodii, populations along the NE Pacific ocean have declined due to the rickettsial disease withering syndrome (WS). Natural recovery on San Nicolas Island (SNI) of Southern California suggested the development of resistance in island populations. Experimental challenges in one treatment demonstrated that progeny of disease-selected black abalone from...
Eruptive and tectonic history of the Endeavour Segment, Juan de Fuca Ridge, based on AUV mapping data and lava flow ages
David A. Clague, Brian M Dreyer, Jennifer B. Paduan, Julie F Martin, David W Caress, James B. Gillespie, Deborah S Kelley, Hans Thomas, Ryan A Portner, John R. Delaney, Thomas P. Guilderson, Mary L. McGann
2014, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (15) 3364-3391
High-resolution bathymetric surveys from autonomous underwater vehicles ABE and D. Allan B. were merged to create a coregistered map of 71.7 km2 of the Endeavour Segment of the Juan de Fuca Ridge. Radiocarbon dating of foraminifera in cores from three dives of remotely operated vehicle Doc Ricketts provide minimum eruption...
The rock abrasion record at Gale Crater: Mars Science Laboratory results from Bradbury Landing to Rocknest
N.T. Bridges, F.J. Calef III, B.W. Hallett, Kenneth E. Herkenhoff, N.L. Lanza, S. Le Mouélic, C.E. Newman, D.L. Blaney, de Pablo, G.A. Kocurek, Y. Langevin, K.W. Lewis, N. Mangold, S. Maurice, P.-Y. Meslin, P. Pinet, N.O. Renno, CM.S. Rice, M.E. Richardson, V. Sautter, R.S. Sletten, R. C. Wiens, R.A. Yingst
2014, Journal of Geophysical Research E: Planets (119) 1374-1389
Ventifacts, rocks abraded by wind-borne particles, are found in Gale Crater, Mars. In the eastward drive from “Bradbury Landing” to “Rocknest,” they account for about half of the float and outcrop seen by Curiosity's cameras. Many are faceted and exhibit abrasion textures found at a range of scales, from submillimeter...
Stress-based aftershock forecasts made within 24h post mainshock: Expected north San Francisco Bay area seismicity changes after the 2014 M=6.0 West Napa earthquake
Thomas E. Parsons, Margaret Segou, Volkan Sevilgen, Kevin Milner, Edward H. Field, Shinji Toda, Ross S. Stein
2014, Geophysical Research Letters (41) 8792-8799
We calculate stress changes resulting from the M = 6.0 West Napa earthquake on north San Francisco Bay area faults. The earthquake ruptured within a series of long faults that pose significant hazard to the Bay area, and we are thus concerned with potential increases in the probability of a large earthquake through...
Survival and reproduction of myxobolus cerebralis-resistant Rainbow Trout introduced to the colorado river and increased resistance of age-0 progeny
Dana L. Winkelman, Eric R. Fetherman, Melinda R. Baerwald, George J. Schisler
2014, PLoS ONE
Myxobolus cerebralis caused severe declines in rainbow trout populations across Colorado following its introduction in the 1980s. One promising approach for the recovery of Colorado’s rainbow trout populations has been the production of rainbow trout that are genetically resistant to the parasite. We introduced one of these resistant crosses, known as...
Evaluation of catch-and-release regulations on Brook Trout in Pennsylvania streams
Jason Detar, David Kristine, Tyler Wagner, Tom Greene
2014, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (34) 49-56
In 2004, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission implemented catch-and-release (CR) regulations on headwater stream systems to determine if eliminating angler harvest would result in an increase in the number of adult (≥100 mm) or large (≥175 mm) Brook Trout Salvelinus fontinalis. Under the CR regulations, angling was permitted on a year-round basis,...
Prevalence of pure versus mixed snow cover pixels across spatial resolutions in alpine environments: implications for binary and fractional remote sensing approaches
David J. Selkowitz, Richard Forster, Megan K. Caldwell
2014, Remote Sensing (6) 12478-12508
Remote sensing of snow-covered area (SCA) can be binary (indicating the presence/absence of snow cover at each pixel) or fractional (indicating the fraction of each pixel covered by snow). Fractional SCA mapping provides more information than binary SCA, but is more difficult to implement and may not be feasible with...
Thermal measurements of dark and bright surface features on Vesta as derived from Dawn/VIR
Federico Tosi, Maria Teresa Capria, De Sanctis, J.-Ph. Combe, F. Zambon, A. Nathues, S.E. Schröder, J.-Y. Li, E. Palomba, A. Longobardo, D.T. Blewett, B.W. Denevi, E. Palmer, F. Capaccioni, E. Ammannito, Timothy N. Titus, D.W. Mittlefehldt, J.M. Sunshine, C.T. Russell, C.A. Raymond, Dawn/VIR Team
2014, Icarus (240) 36-57
Remote sensing data acquired during Dawn’s orbital mission at Vesta showed several local concentrations of high-albedo (bright) and low-albedo (dark) material units, in addition to spectrally distinct meteorite impact ejecta. The thermal behavior of such areas seen at local scale (1-10 km) is related to physical properties that can provide...
Invasive Brown Treesnake movements at road edges indicate road-crossing avoidance
Shane R. Siers, Julie S Savidge, Robert N. Reed
2014, Journal of Herpetology (48) 500-505
Roads have significant impacts on the dispersal of wildlife. Although this poses a threat to the abundance and diversity of desirable flora and fauna, it also affords some opportunity for enhancing control of invasive species. Roads are the most common terrain features that may affect the rate of landscape-scale movements...
Experimental manipulation of TN:TP ratiossuppress cyanobacterial biovolume and microcystinconcentration in large-scale in situ mesocosms
Theodore D. Harris, Frank M. Wilhelm, Jennifer L. Graham, Keith A. Loftin
2014, Lake and Reservoir Management (30) 72-83
A global dataset was compiled to examine relations between the total nitrogen to total phosphorus ratio (TN:TP) and microcystin concentration in lakes and reservoirs. Microcystin concentration decreased as TN:TP ratios increased, suggesting that manipulation of the TN:TP ratio may reduce microcystin concentrations. This relationship was experimentally tested by adding ammonium...
When to be discrete: The importance of time formulation in understanding animal movement
Brett T. McClintock, Devin S. Johnson, Mevin Hooten, Jay M. Ver Hoef, Juan M. Morales
2014, Movement Ecology (2)
Animal movement is essential to our understanding of population dynamics, animal behavior, and the impacts of global change. Coupled with high-resolution biotelemetry data, exciting new inferences about animal movement have been facilitated by various specifications of contemporary models. These approaches differ, but most share common themes. One key distinction is...
Estimating the magnitude and frequency of floods for urban and small, rural streams in Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina
Toby D. Feaster, Anthony J. Gotvald, J. Curtis Weaver
2014, Book, Proceedings of the 3rd Joint Federal Interagency Conference on Sedimentation and Hydrologic Modeling
Reliable estimates of the magnitude and frequency of floods are essential for such things as the design of transportation and water-conveyance structures, Flood Insurance Studies, and flood-plain management. The flood-frequency estimates are particularly important in densely populated urban areas. A multistate approach was used to update methods for determining the...
Elders recall an earlier tsunami on Indian Ocean shores
Din Mohammad Kakar, Ghazala Naeem, Abdullah Usman, Haider Hasan, Hira Lohdi, Seshachalam Srinivasalu, Vanessa Andrade, C.P. Rajendran, Abdolmajid Naderi Beni, Mohammad Ali Hamzeh, Goesta Hoffmann, Noora Al Balushi, Nora Gale, Ardito Kodijat, Hermann M. Fritz, Brian F. Atwater
2014, Eos, Earth and Space Science News (95) 485-486
Ten years on, the Indian Ocean tsunami of 26 December 2004 still looms large in efforts to reduce coastal risk. The disaster has spurred worldwide advances in tsunami detection and warning, tsunami-risk assessment, and tsunami awareness [Satake, 2014]. Nearly a lifetime has passed since the northwestern Indian Ocean last produced a...
Physically based method for measuring suspended-sediment concentration and grain size using multi-frequency arrays of acoustic-doppler profilers
David J. Topping, Scott Wright, Ronald E. Griffiths, David J. Dean
2014, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the 2015 Joint Federal Interagency Conference on Sedimentation and Hydrologic Modeling
As the result of a 12-year program of sediment-transport research and field testing on the Colorado River (6 stations in UT and AZ), Yampa River (2 stations in CO), Little Snake River (1 station in CO), Green River (1 station in CO and 2 stations in UT), and Rio Grande...
