2012 volcanic activity in Alaska: Summary of events and response of the Alaska Volcano Observatory
Julie A. Herrick, Christina A. Neal, Cheryl E. Cameron, James P. Dixon, Robert G. McGimsey
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5160
The Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) responded to eruptions, possible eruptions, volcanic unrest, or suspected unrest at 11 volcanic centers in Alaska during 2012. Of the two verified eruptions, one (Cleveland) was clearly magmatic and the other (Kanaga) was most likely a single phreatic explosion. Two other volcanoes had notable seismic...
ShakeAlert—An earthquake early warning system for the United States west coast
Erin R. Burkett, Douglas D. Given, Lucile M. Jones
2014, Fact Sheet 2014-3083
Earthquake early warning systems use earthquake science and the technology of monitoring systems to alert devices and people when shaking waves generated by an earthquake are expected to arrive at their location. The seconds to minutes of advance warning can allow people and systems to take actions to protect life...
2011 volcanic activity in Alaska: summary of events and response of the Alaska Volcano Observatory
Robert G. McGimsey, J. Zebulon Maharrey, Christina A. Neal
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5159
The Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) responded to eruptions, possible eruptions, and volcanic unrest at or near three separate volcanic centers in Alaska during 2011. The year was highlighted by the unrest and eruption of Cleveland Volcano in the central Aleutian Islands. AVO annual summaries no longer report on activity at...
Hydraulic assessment of existing and alternative stream crossings providing fish and wildlife passage at seven sites in Massachusetts
Phillip J. Zarriello, Jeffrey R. Barbaro
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5146
Seven existing road crossing structures at streams in Massachusetts were evaluated hydraulically and compared to hypothetical alternative structures designed for Aquatic Organism Passage (AOP) using standards developed by the Massachusetts River Continuity Partnership. Hydraulic simulations made for flood flows ranging from 20- to 0.2-percent annual exceedance probability (AEP) indicate that...
Geochemical and modal data for igneous rocks associated with epithermal mineral deposits
Edward A. du Bray
2014, Data Series 875
The purposes of this report are to (1) present available geochemical and modal data for igneous rocks associated with epithermal mineral deposits and (2) to make those data widely and readily available for subsequent, more in-depth consideration and interpretation. Epithermal precious and base-metal deposits are commonly associated with subduction-related calc-alkaline...
Manganese: it turns iron into steel (and does so much more)
William F. Cannon
2014, Fact Sheet 2014-3087
Manganese is a common ferrous metal with atomic weight of 25 and the chemical symbol Mn. It constitutes roughly 0.1 percent of the Earth’s crust, making it the 12th most abundant element. Its early uses were limited largely to pigments and oxidants in chemical processes and experiments, but the significance...
Hydroclimate of the Spring Mountains and Sheep Range, Clark County, Nevada
Michael T. Moreo, Gabriel B. Senay, Alan L. Flint, Nancy A. Damar, Randell J. Laczniak, James Hurja
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5142
Precipitation, potential evapotranspiration, and actual evapotranspiration often are used to characterize the hydroclimate of a region. Quantification of these parameters in mountainous terrains is difficult because limited access often hampers the collection of representative ground data. To fulfill a need to characterize ecological zones in the Spring Mountains and Sheep...
Fort Collins Science Center: science accomplishments for fiscal years 2012 and 2013
Juliette T. Wilson, David B. Hamilton
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1143
The Fort Collins Science Center (FORT) is a multi-disciplinary research and development center of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) located in Fort Collins, Colorado. Organizationally, FORT is within the USGS Southwest Region, although our work extends across the Nation and into several other countries. FORT research focuses on needs of...
Hand-rearing, growth, and development of common loon (Gavia immer) chicks
Kevin P. Kenow, Melissa S. Meier, Laurie E. McColl, Randy K. Hines, Jimmy Pichner, Laura Johnson, James E. Lyon, Kellie Kroc Scharold, Michael Meyer
2014, Zoo Biology (33) 360-371
Common loon chicks were reared in captivity in association with studies to evaluate the effects of radiotransmitter implants and to assess the ecological risk of dietary methylmercury. Here we report on hatching and rearing methods used to successfully raise chicks to 105 days of age. We experienced a 91.5% hatch...
Laboratory estimation of net trophic transfer efficiencies of PCB congeners to lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) from its prey
Charles P. Madenjian, Richard R. Rediske, James P. O'Keefe, Solomon R. David
2014, Journal of Visualized Experiments (90)
A technique for laboratory estimation of net trophic transfer efficiency (γ) of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners to piscivorous fish from their prey is described herein. During a 135-day laboratory experiment, we fed bloater (Coregonus hoyi) that had been caught in Lake Michigan to lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) kept in eight...
Low transient storage and uptake efficiencies in seven agricultural streams: implications for nutrient demand
Rich W. Sheibley, John H. Duff, Anthony J. Tesoriero
2014, Journal of Environmental Quality (43) 1980-1990
We used mass load budgets, transient storage modeling, and nutrient spiraling metrics to characterize nitrate (NO3−), ammonium (NH4+), and inorganic phosphorus (SRP) demand in seven agricultural streams across the United States and to identify in-stream services that may control these conditions. Retention of one or all nutrients was observed in...
Estimated water use in Puerto Rico, 2010
Wanda L. Molina-Rivera
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1117
Water-use data were aggregated for the 78 municipios of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico for 2010. Five major offstream categories were considered: public-supply water withdrawals and deliveries, domestic and industrial self-supplied water use, crop-irrigation water use, and thermoelectric-power freshwater use. One instream water-use category also was compiled: power-generation instream water...
Post-parturition habitat selection by elk calves and adult female elk in New Mexico
James W. Pitman, James W. Cain III, Stewart Liley, William R. Gould, Nichole T. Quintana, Warren Ballard
2014, Journal of Wildlife Management (78) 1216-1227
Neonatal survival and juvenile recruitment are crucial to maintaining viable elk (Cervus elaphus) populations. Neonate survival is known to be influenced by many factors, including bed-site selection. Although neonates select the actual bed-site location, they must do so within the larger calf-rearing area selected by the mother. As calves age,...
A nuclear DNA perspective on delineating evolutionarily significant lineages in polyploids: the case of the endangered shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum)
Tim L. King, Anne P. Henderson, Boyd E. Kynard, Micah C. Kieffer, Douglas L. Peterson, Aaron W. Aunins, Bonnie L. Brown
2014, PLoS ONE (9)
The shortnose sturgeon, Acipenser brevirostrum, oft considered a phylogenetic relic, is listed as an “endangered species threatened with extinction” in the US and “Vulnerable” on the IUCN Red List. Effective conservation of A. brevirostrum depends on understanding its diversity and evolutionary processes, yet challenges associated with the polyploid nature of...
Re-evaluating the northeastern Minnesota moose decline and the role of wolves
L. David Mech, John Fieberg
2014, Journal of Wildlife Management (78) 1143-1150
We re-evaluated findings from Lenarz et al. (2009) that adult moose (Alces alces) survival in northeastern Minnesota was related to high January temperatures and that predation by wolves (Canis lupus) played a minor role. We found significant inverse relationships between annual wolf numbers in part of the moose range and...
Irruptive dynamics of introduced caribou on Adak Island, Alaska: an evaluation of Riney-Caughley model predictions
Mark A. Ricca, Dirk H. Van Vuren, Floyd W. Weckerly, Jeffrey C. Williams, A. Keith Miles
2014, Ecosphere (5)
Large mammalian herbivores introduced to islands without predators are predicted to undergo irruptive population and spatial dynamics, but only a few well-documented case studies support this paradigm. We used the Riney-Caughley model as a framework to test predictions of irruptive population growth and spatial expansion of caribou (Rangifer tarandus granti)...
Freshwater mussel population status and habitat quality in the Clinch River, Virginia and Tennessee, USA: a featured collection
Carl E. Zipper, Braven Beaty, Gregory C. Johnson, Jess W. Jones, Jennifer Lynn Krstolic, Brett J.K. Ostby, William J. Wolfe, Patricia Donovan
2014, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (50) 807-819
The Clinch River of southwestern Virginia and northeastern Tennessee is arguably the most important river for freshwater mussel conservation in the United States. This featured collection presents investigations of mussel population status and habitat quality in the Clinch River. Analyses of historic water- and sediment-quality data suggest that water column...
Evidence of repeated wildfires prior to human occupation on San Nicolas Island, California
Jeffrey S. Pigati, John P. McGeehin, Gary L. Skipp, Daniel R. Muhs
2014, Monographs of the Western North American Naturalist (7) 35-47
Understanding how early humans on the California Channel Islands might have changed local fire regimes requires a baseline knowledge of the frequency of natural wildfires on the islands prior to human occupation. A sedimentary sequence that was recently discovered in a small canyon on San Nicolas Island contains evidence of...
Can air temperature be used to project influences of climate change on stream temperature?
Ivan Arismendi, Mohammad Safeeq, Jason B. Dunham, Sherri L. Johnson
2014, Environmental Research Letters (9)
Worldwide, lack of data on stream temperature has motivated the use of regression-based statistical models to predict stream temperatures based on more widely available data on air temperatures. Such models have been widely applied to project responses of stream temperatures under climate change, but the performance of these models has...
The offshore benthic fish community
Brian F. Lantry, Jana R. Lantry, Brian Weidel, Maureen Walsh, James A. Hoyle, Teodore Schaner, Fraser B. Neave, Michael Keir
2014, Report, The state of Lake Ontario in 2008
Lake Ontario’s offshore benthic fish community includes primarily slimy sculpin, lake whitefish, rainbow smelt, lake trout, burbot, and sea lamprey. Of these, lake trout have been the focus of an international restoration effort for more than three decades (Elrod et al. 1995; Lantry and Lantry 2008). The deepwater sculpin and...
Hydrology and numerical simulation of groundwater movement and heat transport in Snake Valley and surrounding areas, Juab, Miller, and Beaver Counties, Utah, and White Pine and Lincoln Counties, Nevada
Melissa D. Masbruch, Philip M. Gardner, Lynette E. Brooks
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5103
Snake Valley and surrounding areas, along the Utah-Nevada state border, are part of the Great Basin carbonate and alluvial aquifer system. The groundwater system in the study area consists of water in unconsolidated deposits in basins and water in consolidated rock underlying the basins and in the adjacent mountain blocks....
Guidelines for the collection of continuous stream water-temperature data in Alaska
Ryan C. Toohey, Edward G. Neal, Gary L. Solin
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1182
Objectives of stream monitoring programs differ considerably among many of the academic, Federal, state, tribal, and non-profit organizations in the state of Alaska. Broad inclusion of stream-temperature monitoring can provide an opportunity for collaboration in the development of a statewide stream-temperature database. Statewide and regional coordination could reduce overall monitoring...
Field‐readable alphanumeric flags are valuable markers for shorebirds: use of double‐marking to identify cases of misidentification
Erin A. Roche, Colin M. Dovichin, Todd W. Arnold
2014, Journal of Field Ornithology (85) 329-338
Implicit assumptions for most mark-recapture studies are that individuals do not lose their markers and all observed markers are correctly recorded. If these assumptions are violated, e.g., due to loss or extreme wear of markers, estimates of population size and vital rates will be biased. Double-marking experiments have been widely...
Water resources of Sabine Parish, Louisiana
Lawrence B. Prakken, Vincent E. White, John K. Lovelace
2014, Fact Sheet 2014-3040
Information concerning the availability, use, and quality of water in Sabine 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 the availability,...
Widespread methane leakage from the sea floor on the northern US Atlantic margin
Adam Skarke, Carolyn Ruppel, Mali’o Kodis, Daniel S. Brothers, Elizabeth A. Lobecker
2014, Nature Geoscience (7) 657-661
Methane emissions from the sea floor affect methane inputs into the atmosphere, ocean acidification and de-oxygenation, the distribution of chemosynthetic communities and energy resources. Global methane flux from seabed cold seeps has only been estimated for continental shelves, at 8 to 65 Tg CH4 yr−1, yet other parts of marine...
