Conceptual and numerical models of groundwater flow in the Ogallala and Arikaree aquifers, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation area, South Dakota, water years 1980-2009
Kyle W. Davis, Larry D. Putnam, Anneka R. LaBelle
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5241
The Ogallala and Arikaree aquifers are the largest sources of groundwater on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and are used extensively for irrigation and public and domestic water supplies. To assess the potential for decreased water levels and discharge to streams in the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, conceptual and numerical...
Large-scale dam removal on the Elwha River, Washington, USA: coastal geomorphic change
Guy R. Gelfenbaum, Andrew W. Stevens, Ian M. Miller, Jonathan A. Warrick, Andrea S. Ogston, Emily Eidam
2015, Geomorphology (246) 649-668
Two dams on the Elwha River, Washington State, USA trapped over 20 million m3 of mud, sand, and gravel since 1927, reducing downstream sediment fluxes and contributing to erosion of the river's coastal delta. The removal of the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams, initiated in September 2011, induced massive increases in river sediment...
The 21 May 2014 Mw 5.9 Bay of Bengal earthquake: macroseismic data suggest a high‐stress‐drop event
Stacey Martin, Susan E. Hough
2015, Seismological Research Letters (86) 369-377
A modest but noteworthy Mw 5.9 earthquake occurred in the Bay of Bengal beneath the central Bengal fan at 21:51 Indian Standard Time (16:21 UTC) on 21 May 2014. Centered over 300 km from the eastern coastline of India (Fig. 1), it caused modest damage by virtue of its location and magnitude. However, shaking...
Yellowstone plume trigger for Basin and Range extension, and coeval emplacement of the Nevada–Columbia Basin magmatic belt
Victor E Camp, Kenneth L. Pierce, Lisa Ann Morgan Morzel
2015, Geosphere (11) 203-225
Widespread extension began across the northern and central Basin and Range Province at 17–16 Ma, contemporaneous with magmatism along the Nevada–Columbia Basin magmatic belt, a linear zone of dikes and volcanic centers that extends for >1000 km, from southern Nevada to the Columbia Basin of eastern Washington. This belt was...
Estuarine bed-sediment-quality data collected in New Jersey and New York after Hurricane Sandy, 2013
Jeffrey M. Fischer, Patrick J. Phillips, Timothy J. Reilly, Michael J. Focazio, Keith A. Loftin, William Benzel, Daniel K. Jones, Kelly L. Smalling, Shawn C. Fisher, Irene J. Fisher, Luke R. Iwanowicz, Kristin M. Romanok, Darkus E. Jenkins, Luke Bowers, Adam Boehlke, William T. Foreman, Anna C. Deetz, Lisa G. Carper, Thomas E. Imbrigiotta, Justin E. Birdwell
2015, Data Series 905
This report describes a reconnaissance study of estuarine bed-sediment quality conducted June–October 2013 in New Jersey and New York after Hurricane Sandy in October 2012 to assess the extent of contamination and the potential long-term human and ecological impacts of the storm. The study, funded through the Disaster Relief Appropriations...
Re–Os age for the Lower–Middle Pennsylvanian Boundary and comparison with associated palynoflora
Nicholas J. Geboy, G.R Tripathy, Leslie F. Ruppert, C.F. Eble, B.M. Blake, J. L. Hannah, H. J. Stein
2015, International Journal of Coal Geology (140) 23-30
The Betsie Shale Member is a relatively thick and continuous unit that serves as a marker bed across the central Appalachian basin, in part because it includes an organic-rich shale unit at its base that is observable in drill logs. Deposited during a marine transgression,...
Water-level conditions in the confined aquifers of the New Jersey Coastal Plain, 2008
Vincent T. DePaul, Robert Rosman
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5232
Groundwater-level altitudes in 10 confined aquifers of the New Jersey Coastal Plain were measured and evaluated to provide an overview of regional groundwater conditions during fall 2008. Water levels were measured in more than 900 wells in New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania, and northern Delaware and potentiometric surface maps prepared for...
Long-term groundwater depletion in the United States
Leonard F. Konikow
2015, Groundwater (53) 2-9
The volume of groundwater stored in the subsurface in the United States decreased by almost 1000 km3 during 1900–2008. The aquifer systems with the three largest volumes of storage depletion include the High Plains aquifer, the Mississippi Embayment section of the Gulf Coastal Plain aquifer system, and the Central Valley of California....
Magnetotelluric data collected to characterize aquifers in the San Luis Basin, New Mexico
Chad E. Ailes, Brian D. Rodriguez
2015, Open-File Report 2014-1248
The U.S. Geological Survey is conducting a series of multidisciplinary studies of the San Luis Basin as part of the Geologic Framework of Rio Grande Basins project. Detailed geologic mapping, high-resolution airborne magnetic surveys, gravity surveys, magnetotelluric surveys, and hydrologic and lithologic data are being used to better understand the...
Bedrock geologic map of the Spring Valley, West Plains, and parts of the Piedmont and Poplar Bluff 30'x60' quadrangles, Missouri, including the upper Current River and Eleven Point River drainage basins
David J. Weary, Richard W. Harrison, Randall C. Orndorff, Robert E. Weems, J. Stephen Schindler, John E. Repetski, Herbert A. Pierce
2015, Scientific Investigations Map 3280
This map covers the drainage basins of the upper Current River and the Eleven Point River in the Ozark Plateaus physiographic province of southeastern Missouri. The two surface drainage basins are contiguous in their headwaters regions, but are separated in their lower reaches by the lower Black River basin in...
Beach ridges as paleoseismic indicators of abrupt coastal subsidence during subduction zone earthquakes, and implications for Alaska-Aleutian subduction zone paleoseismology, southeast coast of the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Harvey M. Kelsey, Robert C. Witter, Simon E. Engelhart, Richard W. Briggs, Alan R. Nelson, Peter J. Haeussler, D. Reide Corbett
2015, Quaternary Science Reviews (113) 147-158
The Kenai section of the eastern Alaska-Aleutian subduction zone straddles two areas of high slip in the 1964 great Alaska earthquake and is the least studied of the three megathrust segments (Kodiak, Kenai, Prince William Sound) that ruptured in 1964. Investigation of two coastal sites in the eastern part of...
Geologic map of the Bodie Hills, California and Nevada
David A. John, Edward A. du Bray, Stephen E. Box, Peter G. Vikre, James J. Rytuba, Robert J. Fleck, Barry C. Moring
2015, Scientific Investigations Map 3318
The Bodie Hills covers about 1,200 km2 straddling the California-Nevada state boundary just north of Mono Lake in the western part of the Basin and Range Province, about 20 km east of the central Sierra Nevada. The area is mostly underlain by the partly overlapping, middle to late Miocene Bodie Hills...
Potentiometric surfaces and water-level trends in the Cockfield (upper Claiborne) aquifer in southern Arkansas and the Wilcox (lower Wilcox) aquifer of northeastern and southern Arkansas, 2012
Kirk D. Rodgers
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5232
The Cockfield aquifer, located in southern Arkansas, is composed of Eocene-age sand beds found near the base of the Cockfield Formation of Claiborne Group. The Wilcox aquifer, located in northeastern and southern Arkansas, is composed of Paleocene-age sand beds found in the middle to lower part of the Wilcox Group....
River mainstem thermal regimes influence population structuring within an Appalachian brook trout population
Aaron Aunins, J. Todd Petty, Tim L. King, Mariya Schilz, Patricia M. Mazik
2015, Conservation Genetics (16) 15-29
Brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) often exist as highly differentiated populations, even at small spatial scales, due either to natural or anthropogenic sources of isolation and low rates of dispersal. In this study, we used molecular approaches to describe the unique population structure of brook trout inhabiting the Shavers Fork watershed,...
Intercontinental genetic structure and gene flow in Dunlin (Calidris alpina), a potential vector of avian influenza
Mark P. Miller, Susan M. Haig, Thomas D. Mullins, Luzhang Ruan, Bruce Casler, Alexei Dondua, H. River Gates, J. Matthew Johnson, Steven J. Kendall, Pavel S. Tomkovich, Diane Tracy, Olga P. Valchuk, Richard B. Lanctot
2015, Evolutionary Applications (8) 149-171
Waterfowl (Anseriformes) and shorebirds (Charadriiformes) are the most common wild vectors of influenza A viruses. Due to their migratory behavior, some may transmit disease over long distances. Migratory connectivity studies can link breeding and nonbreeding grounds while illustrating potential interactions among populations that may spread diseases. We investigated Dunlin (Calidris...
Chemical constituents in groundwater from multiple zones in the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho, 2009-13
Roy C. Bartholomay, Candice B. Hopkins, Neil V. Maimer
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5002
From 2009 to 2013, the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Project office, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy, collected water-quality samples from multiple water-bearing zones in the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer. Water samples were collected from 11 monitoring wells completed in about 250–750 feet of the...
Assessment of surface water chloride and conductivity trends in areas of unconventional oil and gas development — Why existing national data sets cannot tell us what we would like to know
Zachary H. Bowen, Gretchen P. Oelsner, Brian S. Cade, Tanya J. Gallegos, Aida M. Farag, David N. Mott, Christopher J. Potter, Peter J. Cinotto, Melanie L. Clark, William M. Kappel, Timothy M. Kresse, Cynthia P. Melcher, Suzanne S. Paschke, David D. Susong, Brian A. Varela
2015, Water Resources Research (51) 704-715
Heightened concern regarding the potential effects of unconventional oil and gas development on regional water quality has emerged, but the few studies on this topic are limited in geographic scope. Here we evaluate the potential utility of national and publicly available water-quality data sets for addressing questions regarding unconventional oil...
Digital geospatial presentation of geoelectrical and geotechnical data for the lower American River and flood plain, east Sacramento, California
Lyndsay B. Ball, Bethany L. Burton, Michael H. Powers, Theodore H. Asch
2015, Data Series 902
To characterize the extent and thickness of lithologic units that may have differing scour potential, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, has performed several geoelectrical surveys of the lower American River channel and flood plain between Cal Expo and the Rio Americano High...
Future wave and wind projections for United States and United-States-affiliated Pacific Islands
Curt D. Storlazzi, James B. Shope, Li H. Erikson, Christine A. Hegermiller, Patrick L. Barnard
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1001
Changes in future wave climates in the tropical Pacific Ocean from global climate change are not well understood. Spatially and temporally varying waves dominate coastal morphology and ecosystem structure of the islands throughout the tropical Pacific. Waves also impact coastal infrastructure, natural and cultural resources, and coastal-related economic activities of...
Instrumenting caves to collect hydrologic and geochemical data: case study from James Cave, Virginia
Madeline E. Schreiber, Benjamin F. Schwartz, William Orndorff, Daniel H. Doctor, Sarah D. Eagle, Jonathan D. Gerst
2015, Book chapter, Advances in watershed science and assessment
Karst aquifers are productive groundwater systems, supplying approximately 25 % of the world’s drinking water. Sustainable use of this critical water supply requires information about rates of recharge to karst aquifers. The overall goal of this project is to collect long-term, high-resolution hydrologic and geochemical datasets at James Cave, Virginia,...
Large-scale dam removal on the Elwha River, Washington, USA: source-to-sink sediment budget and synthesis
Jonathan A. Warrick, Jennifer A. Bountry, Amy E. East, Christopher S. Magirl, Timothy J. Randle, Guy R. Gelfenbaum, Andrew C. Ritchie, George R. Pess, Vivian Leung, Jeff J. Duda
2015, Geomorphology (246) 729-750
Understanding landscape responses to sediment supply changes constitutes a fundamental part of many problems in geomorphology, but opportunities to study such processes at field scales are rare. The phased removal of two large dams on the Elwha River, Washington, exposed 21 ± 3 million m3, or ~ 30 million tonnes (t), of sediment that had been deposited...
Growth rates and variances of unexploited wolf populations in dynamic equilibria
L. David Mech, John Fieberg
2015, Wildlife Society Bulletin (39) 41-48
Several states have begun harvesting gray wolves (Canis lupus), and these states and various European countries are closely monitoring their wolf populations. To provide appropriate perspective for determining unusual or extreme fluctuations in their managed wolf populations, we analyzed natural, long-term, wolf-population-density trajectories totaling 130 years of data from 3...
The quality of our nation's waters: Water quality in the Principal Aquifers of the Piedmont, Blue Ridge, and Valley and Ridge regions, eastern United States, 1993-2009
Bruce D. Lindsey, Tammy M. Zimmerman, Melinda J. Chapman, Charles A. Cravotta III,, Zoltan Szabo
2015, Circular 1354
The aquifers of the Piedmont, Blue Ridge, and Valley and Ridge regions underlie an area with a population of more than 40 million people in 10 states. The suburban and rural population is large, growing rapidly, and increasingly dependent on groundwater as a source of supply, with more than 550...
Hydrogeology of the Ramapo River-Woodbury Creek valley-fill aquifer system and adjacent areas in eastern Orange County, New York
Paul M. Heisig
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5156
The hydrogeology of the valley-fill aquifer system and surrounding watershed areas was investigated within a 23-mile long, fault-controlled valley in eastern Orange County, New York. Glacial deposits form a divide within the valley that is drained to the north by Woodbury Creek and is drained to the south by the...
Soil greenhouse gas emissions and carbon budgeting in a short-hydroperiod floodplain wetland
Jackie Batson, Gregory B. Noe, Cliff R. Hupp, Ken W. Krauss, Nancy B. Rybicki, Edward R. Schenk
2015, Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences (120) 77-95
Understanding the controls on floodplain carbon (C) cycling is important for assessing greenhouse gas emissions and the potential for C sequestration in river-floodplain ecosystems. We hypothesized that greater hydrologic connectivity would increase C inputs to floodplains that would not only stimulate soil C gas emissions but also sequester more C...
