Introduction to the special issue on “Understanding and predicting change in the coastal ecosystems of the northern Gulf of Mexico”
John Brock, John A. Barras, S. Jeffress Williams
2013, Journal of Coastal Research (63) 1-5
The coastal region of the northern Gulf of Mexico owes its current landscape structure to an array of tectonic, erosional and depositional, climatic, geochemical, hydrological, ecological, and human processes that have resulted in some of the world's most complex, dynamic, productive, and threatened ecosystems. Catastrophic hurricane landfalls, ongoing subsidence and...
The relative contribution of methanotrophs to microbial communities and carbon cycling in soil overlying a coal-bed methane seep
Christopher T. Mills, Gregory F. Slater, Robert F. Dias, Stephanie A. Carr, Christopher M. Reddy, Raleigh Schmidt, Kevin W. Mandernack
2013, FEMS Microbiology Ecology (84) 474-494
Seepage of coal-bed methane (CBM) through soils is a potential source of atmospheric CH4 and also a likely source of ancient (i.e. 14C-dead) carbon to soil microbial communities. Natural abundance 13C and 14C compositions of bacterial membrane phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) and soil gas CO2 and CH4 were used to...
Measuring the relative resilience of subarctic lakes to global change: redundancies of functions within and across temporal scales
David G. Angeler, Craig R. Allen, Richard K. Johnson
2013, Journal of Applied Ecology (50) 572-584
1. Ecosystems at high altitudes and latitudes are expected to be particularly vulnerable to the effects of global change. We assessed the responses of littoral invertebrate communities to changing abiotic conditions in subarctic Swedish lakes with long-term data (1988–2010) and compared the responses of subarctic lakes with those of more...
Mapping polar bear maternal denning habitat in the National Petroleum Reserve -- Alaska with an IfSAR digital terrain model
George M. Durner, Kristin S. Simac, Steven C. Amstrup
2013, Arctic (66) 139-245
The National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska (NPR-A) in northeastern Alaska provides winter maternal denning habitat for polar bears (Ursus maritimus) and also has high potential for recoverable hydrocarbons. Denning polar bears exposed to human activities may abandon their dens before their young are able to survive the severity of Arctic winter weather....
Water-level altitudes 2013 and water-level changes in the Chicot, Evangeline, and Jasper aquifers and compaction 1973--2012 in the Chicot and Evangeline aquifers, Houston-Galveston region, Texas
Mark C. Kasmarek, Michaela R. Johnson, Jason K. Ramage
2013, Scientific Investigations Map 3263
Most of the subsidence in the Houston-Galveston region, Texas, has occurred as a direct result of groundwater withdrawals for municipal supply, commercial and industrial use, and irrigation that depressured and dewatered the Chicot and Evangeline aquifers, thereby causing compaction mostly in the clay and silt layers of the aquifer sediments....
National wildlife refuge visitor survey 2012--Individual refuge results
Alia M. Dietsch, Natalie R. Sexton, Lynne M. Koontz, Shannon J. Conk
2013, Data Series 754
The National Wildlife Refuge System (Refuge System), established in 1903 and managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), is the leading network of protected lands and waters in the world dedicated to the conservation of fish, wildlife and their habitats. There are 560 national wildlife refuges and 38...
Toxic exposure of songbirds to lead in the Southeast Missouri Lead Mining District
W. Nelson Beyer, J. Christian Franson, John B. French, Thomas May, Barnett A. Rattner, Valerie I. Shearn-Bochsler, Sarah E. Warner, John Weber, David Mosby
2013, Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology (65) 598-610
Mining and smelting in the Southeast Missouri Lead Mining District has caused widespread contamination of soils with lead (Pb) and other metals. Soils from three study sites sampled in the district contained from approximately 1,000–3,200 mg Pb/kg. Analyses of earthworms [33–4,600 mg Pb/kg dry weight (dw)] collected in the district...
Location and timing of Asian carp spawning in the Lower Missouri River
Joseph E. Deters, Duane Chapman, Brandon McElroy
2013, Environmental Biology of Fishes (96) 617-629
We sampled for eggs of Asian carps, (bighead carp Hypophthalmichthys nobilis, silver carp H. molitrix, and grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idella) in 12 sites on the Lower Missouri River and in six tributaries from the months of May through July 2005 and May through June...
Geochemical evidence of groundwater flow paths and the fate and transport of constituents of concern in the alluvial aquifer at Fort Wingate Depot Activity, New Mexico, 2009
Andrew J. Robertson, David W. Henry, Jeffery B. Langman
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5098
As part of an environmental investigation at Fort Wingate Depot Activity, New Mexico, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, interpreted aqueous geochemical concentrations to better understand the groundwater flow paths and the fate and transport of constituents of concern in the alluvial aquifer...
Model documentation for relations between continuous real-time and discrete water-quality constituents in Cheney Reservoir near Cheney, Kansas, 2001--2009
Mandy L. Stone, Jennifer L. Graham, Jackline W. Gatotho
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1123
Cheney Reservoir, located in south-central Kansas, is one of the primary water supplies for the city of Wichita, Kansas. The U.S. Geological Survey has operated a continuous real-time water-quality monitoring station in Cheney Reservoir since 2001; continuously measured physicochemical properties include specific conductance, pH, water temperature, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, fluorescence...
Genomic analysis of avian influenza viruses from waterfowl in Western Alaska, USA
Andrew B. Reeves, John M. Pearce, Andrew M. Ramey, Craig R. Ely, Joel A. Schmutz, Paul L. Flint, Dirk V. Derksen, S. Ip, Kimberly A. Trust
2013, Journal of Wildlife Diseases (49) 600-610
The Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta (Y-K Delta) in western Alaska is an immense and important breeding ground for waterfowl. Migratory birds from the Pacific Americas, Central Pacific, and East Asian-Australasian flyways converge in this region, providing opportunities for intermixing of North American- and Eurasian-origin hosts and infectious agents, such as avian influenza...
Environmental health science at the U.S. Geological Survey
Herbert T. Buxton, Patricia R. Bright
2013, Fact Sheet 2012-3142
USGS environmental health science focuses on the environment-health interface. Research characterizes the processes that affect the interaction among the physical environment, the living environment, and people, as well as the factors that affect ecological and human exposure to disease agents and the resulting toxicologic or infectious disease. The mission of...
Linking geology and health sciences to assess childhood lead poisoning from artisanal gold mining in Nigeria
Geoffrey S. Plumlee, James T. Durant, Suzette A. Morman, Antonio Neri, Ruth E. Wolf, Carrie A. Dooyema, Philip L. Hageman, Heather Lowers, Gregory L. Fernette, Gregory P. Meeker, William Benzel, Rhonda L. Driscoll, Cyrus J. Berry, James G. Crock, Harland L. Goldstein, Monique Adams, Casey L. Bartrem, Simba Tirima, Behbod Behrooz, Ian von Lindern, Mary Jean Brown
2013, Environmental Health Perspectives (121) 744-750
Background: In 2010, Médecins Sans Frontières discovered a lead poisoning outbreak linked to artisanal gold processing in northwestern Nigeria. The outbreak has killed approximately 400 young children and affected thousands more. Objectives: Our aim was to undertake an interdisciplinary geological- and health-science assessment to clarify lead sources and exposure pathways, identify...
Massachusetts Shoreline Change Mapping and Analysis Project, 2013 Update
E. Robert Thieler, Theresa L. Smith, Julia M. Knisel, Daniel W. Sampson
2013, Open-File Report 2012-1189
Information on rates and trends of shoreline change can be used to improve the understanding of the underlying causes and potential effects of coastal erosion on coastal populations and infrastructure and can support informed coastal management decisions. In this report, we summarize the changes in the historical positions of the...
Linking morphodynamic response with sediment mass balance on the Colorado River in Marble Canyon: issues of scale, geomorphic setting, and sampling design
Paul E. Grams, David J. Topping, John C. Schmidt, Joseph E. Hazel Jr., Matt Kaplinski
2013, Journal of Geophysical Research F: Earth Surface (118) 361-381
Measurements of morphologic change are often used to infer sediment mass balance. Such measurements may, however, result in gross errors when morphologic changes over short reaches are extrapolated to predict changes in sediment mass balance for long river segments. This issue is investigated by examination of morphologic change and sediment...
Yellowstone River Compact Commission sixty-second annual report, 2013
Wayne R. Berkas
2013, Report
No abstract available. ...
First documented occurrences of the shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum) in the Saco River, Maine, USA
C.E. Little, M. Kieffer, G. Wippelhauser, G. Zydlewski, M. Kinnison, L. A. Whitefleet-Smith, J.A. Sulikowski
2013, Journal of Applied Ichthyology (29) 709-712
During sampling efforts to study the more abundant Atlantic sturgeon, Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus, between May of 2009 and November of 2011, four shortnose sturgeon were captured in gill nets near the mouth of the Saco River, Maine. Two of these individuals were tagged with acoustic transmitters to monitor their movement...
Fecundity of the Chinese mystery snail in a Nebraska reservoir
Bruce J. Stephen, Craig R. Allen, Noelle M. Chaine, Kent A. Fricke, Danielle M. Haak, Michelle L. Hellman, Robert A. Kill, Kristine T. Nemec, Kevin L. Pope, Nicholas A. Smeenk, Daniel R. Uden, Kody M. Unstad, Ashley E. VanderHam, Alec Wong
2013, Journal of Freshwater Ecology (28) 439-444
The Chinese mystery snail (Bellamya chinensis) is a non-indigenous, invasive species in freshwater ecosystems of North America. We provide fecundity estimates for a population of these snails in a Nebraska reservoir. We dissected 70 snails, of which 29 were females. Nearly all female snails contained developing young, with an average...
Estimating suitable environments for invasive plant species across large landscapes: a remote sensing strategy using Landsat 7 ETM+
Kendal E. Young, Laurie B. Abbott, Colleen A. Caldwell, T. Scott Schrader
2013, International Journal of Biodiversity and Conservation (5) 122-134
The key to reducing ecological and economic damage caused by invasive plant species is to locate and eradicate new invasions before they threaten native biodiversity and ecological processes. We used Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus imagery to estimate suitable environments for four invasive plants in Big Bend National Park, southwest...
High renesting rates in arctic-breeding Dunlin (Calidris alpina): A clutch-removal experiment
H. River Gates, Richard B. Lanctot, Abby N. Powell
2013, The Auk (130) 372-380
The propensity to replace a clutch is a complex component of avian reproduction and poorly understood. We experimentally removed clutches from an Arctic-breeding shorebird, the Dunlin (Calidris alpina arcticola), during early and late stages of incubation to investigate replacement clutch rates, renesting interval, and mate and site fidelity between nesting...
Finite-fault source inversion using teleseismic P waves: Simple parameterization and rapid analysis
C. Mendoza, S. Hartzell
2013, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (103) 834-844
We examine the ability of teleseismic P waves to provide a timely image of the rupture history for large earthquakes using a simple, 2D finite‐fault source parameterization. We analyze the broadband displacement waveforms recorded for the 2010 Mw∼7 Darfield (New Zealand) and El Mayor‐Cucapah (Baja California) earthquakes using a single...
Eruptions at Lone Star Geyser, Yellowstone National Park, USA, part 1: energetics and eruption dynamics
Leif Karlstrom, Shaul Hurwitz, Robert Sohn, Jean Vandemeulebrouck, Fred Murphy, Maxwell L. Rudolph, Malcolm J.S. Johnston, Michael Manga, R. Blaine McCleskey
2013, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (118) 4048-4062
Geysers provide a natural laboratory to study multiphase eruptive processes. We present results from a four–day experiment at Lone Star Geyser in Yellowstone National Park, USA. We simultaneously measured water discharge, acoustic emissions, infraredintensity, and visible and infrared video to quantify the energetics and dynamics of eruptions, occurring approximately every...
Late Pleistocene and Holocene uplift history of Cyprus: implications for active tectonics along the southern margin of the Anatolian microplate
R.W. Harrison, E. Tsiolakis, B. D. Stone, A. Lord, J. P. McGeehin, S. A. Mahan, P. Chirico
2013, Geological Society, London, Special Publications: Geological Development of Anatolia and the Easternmost Mediterranean Region 372
The nature of the southern margin of the Anatolian microplate during the Neogene is complex, controversial and fundamental in understanding active plate-margin tectonics and natural hazards in the Eastern Mediterranean region. Our investigation provides new insights into the Late Pleistocene uplift history of Cyprus and the Troodos Ophiolite. We provide...
Environmental DNA as a new method for early detection of New Zealand mudsnails (Potamopyrgus antipodarum)
Caren S. Goldberg, Adam Sepulveda, Andrew Ray, Jeremy A. Baumgardt, Lisette P. Waits
2013, Freshwater Science (32) 792-800
Early detection of aquatic invasive species is a critical task for management of aquatic ecosystems. This task is hindered by the difficulty and cost of surveying aquatic systems thoroughly. The New Zealand mudsnail (Potamopyrgus antipodarum) is a small, invasive parthenogenic mollusk that can reach very high population densities and severely...
Characterization of major lithologic units underlying the lower American River using water-borne continuous resistivity profiling, Sacramento, California, June 2008
Lyndsay B. Ball, Andrew Teeple
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1050
The levee system of the lower American River in Sacramento, California, is situated above a mixed lithology of alluvial deposits that range from clay to gravel. In addition, sand deposits related to hydraulic mining activities underlie the floodplain and are preferentially prone to scour during high-flow events. In contrast, sections...
