Groundwater quality in western New York, 2011
James E. Reddy
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1095
Water samples collected from 16 production wells and 15 private residential wells in western New York from July through November 2011 were analyzed to characterize the groundwater quality. Fifteen of the wells were finished in sand and gravel aquifers, and 16 were finished in bedrock aquifers. Six of the 31...
A historical perspective on precipitation, drought severity, and streamflow in Texas during 1951-56 and 2011
Karl E. Winters
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5113
The intense drought throughout Texas during 2011 resulted in substantial declines in streamflow. By April 2011, nearly all of the State was experiencing severe to extreme drought according to data from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Drought Monitor. By the end of July 2011, more than 75 percent of the State...
The role of airborne mineral dusts in human disease
Suzette A. Morman, Geoffrey S. Plumlee
2013, Aeolian Research (9) 203-212
Exposure to fine particulate matter (PM) is generally acknowledged to increase risk for human morbidity and mortality. However, particulate matter (PM) research has generally examined anthropogenic (industry and combustion by-products) sources with few studies considering contributions from geogenic PM (produced from the Earth by natural processes, e.g., volcanic ash, windborne...
Water resources of Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana
Robert B. Fendick Jr., Larry B. Prakken, Jason M. Griffith
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3012
In 2005, about 33.8 million gallons per day (Mgal/d) was withdrawn from water sources in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana. Surface water sources accounted for about 86 percent (29.2 Mgal/d) of all withdrawals whereas groundwater sources accounted for about 14 percent (4.62 Mgal/d). Withdrawals for industrial use accounted for about 42 percent...
Water resources of St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana
Larry B. Prakken
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3030
In 2010, about 261 million gallons per day (Mgal/d) of water were withdrawn in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, almost entirely from surface-water sources. Industrial use accounted for about 97 percent (253 Mgal/d) of the total water withdrawn. Other categories of use included public supply, rural domestic, and livestock. Water-use data...
Inferring fault rheology from low-frequency earthquakes on the San Andreas
Nicholas M. Beeler, Amanda Thomas, Roland Bürgmann, David R. Shelly
2013, Journal of Geophysical Research (118) 5976-5990
Families of recurring low-frequency earthquakes (LFEs) within nonvolcanic tremor (NVT) on the San Andreas fault in central California show strong sensitivity to shear stress induced by the daily tidal cycle. LFEs occur at all levels of the tidal shear stress and are in phase with the very small, ~400 Pa, stress...
Evidence of territoriality and species interactions from spatial point-pattern analyses of subarctic-nesting geese
Matthew Reiter, David E. Andersen
2013, PLoS ONE (8)
Quantifying spatial patterns of bird nests and nest fate provides insights into processes influencing a species’ distribution. At Cape Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, recent declines in breeding Eastern Prairie Population Canada geese (Branta canadensis interior) has coincided with increasing populations of nesting lesser snow geese (Chen caerulescens caerulescens) and Ross’s geese...
The giant Pebble Cu-Au-Mo deposit and surrounding region, southwest Alaska: Introduction
Karen D. Kelley, James R. Lang, Robert G. Eppinger
2013, Economic Geology (108) 397-404
The Pebble deposit is located about 320 km southwest of and 27 km northwest of the village of Iliamna in Alaska (Fig. 1A). It is one of the largest porphyry deposits in terms of contained Cu (Fig. 2A) and it has the largest Au endowment of any porphyry deposit in...
Interactions between brown bears and chum salmon at McNeil River, Alaska
Joshua Peirce, Edward O. Otis, Mark S. Wipfli, Erich H. Follmann
2013, Ursus (24) 42-53
Predation on returning runs of adult salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) can have a large influence on their spawning success. At McNeil River State Game Sanctuary (MRSGS), Alaska, brown bears (Ursus arctos) congregate in high numbers annually along the lower McNeil River to prey upon returning adult chum salmon (O. keta). Low...
Multi-species call-broadcast improved detection of endangered Yuma clapper rail compared to single-species call-broadcast
Christopher P. Nadeau, Courtney J. Conway, Linden Piest, William P. Burger
2013, Wetlands (33) 699-706
Broadcasting calls of marsh birds during point-count surveys increases their detection probability and decreases variation in the number of birds detected across replicate surveys. However, multi-species monitoring using call-broadcast may reduce these benefits if birds are reluctant to call once they hear broadcasted calls of other species. We compared a...
Sediment accretion rates and sediment composition in Prairie Pothole wetlands under varying land use practices, Montana, United States
T.M. Preston, R.S. Sojda, R.A. Gleason
2013, Journal of Soil and Water Conservation (68) 199-211
Increased sedimentation and nutrient cycle changes in Prairie Pothole Region wetlands associated with agriculture threaten the permanence and ecological functionality of these important resources. To determine the effects of land use on sedimentation and nutrient cycling, soil cores were analyzed for cesium-137 (137Cs), lead-210 (210Pb), and potassium-40 (40K) activities; textural...
Tamarix and Diorhabda leaf beetle interactions: implications for Tamarix water use and riparian habitat
Pamela Nagler, Edward P. Glenn
2013, JAWRA (49) 534-548
Tamarix leaf beetles (Diorhabda carinulata) have been widely released on western United States rivers to control introduced shrubs in the genus Tamarix, with the goals of saving water through removal of an assumed high water-use plant, and of improving habitat value by removing a competitor of native riparian trees. We...
Case study Middle Rio Grande Basin, New Mexico, USA
Niel Plummer, W. Sanford
2013, Book chapter, Isotope Methods for Dating Old Groundwater
Chemical and isotopic patterns in groundwater can record characteristics of water sources, flow directions, and groundwater-age information. This hydrochemical information can be useful in refining conceptualization of groundwater flow, in calibration of numerical models of groundwater flow, and in estimation of paleo and modern recharge rates. This case...
Contaminants assessment in the coral reefs of Virgin Islands National Park and Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument
Timothy A. Bargar, Virginia H. Garrison, David A. Alvarez, Kathy Echols
2013, Marine Pollution Bulletin (70) 281-288
Coral, fish, plankton, and detritus samples were collected from coral reefs in Virgin Islands National Park (VIIS) and Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument (VICR) to assess existing contamination levels. Passive water sampling using polar organic chemical integrative samplers (POCIS) and semi-permeable membrane devices found a few emerging pollutants of...
Water resources of Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana
Larry B. Prakken
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3031
In 2010, about 85.1 million gallons per day (Mgal/d) of water were withdrawn in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. Surface-water sources accounted for almost all withdrawals; groundwater sources accounted for only 0.04 Mgal/d. Industrial use accounted for about 92 percent of the total water withdrawn. Other categories of use included public supply,...
A domain decomposition approach to implementing fault slip in finite-element models of quasi-static and dynamic crustal deformation
Brad T. Aagaard, M.G. Knepley, C.A. Williams
2013, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (118) 3059-3079
We employ a domain decomposition approach with Lagrange multipliers to implement fault slip in a finite-element code, PyLith, for use in both quasi-static and dynamic crustal deformation applications. This integrated approach to solving both quasi-static and dynamic simulations leverages common finite-element data structures and implementations of various boundary conditions, discretization...
A quantitative analysis of the state of knowledge of turtles of the United States and Canada
Jeffrey E. Lovich, Joshua R. Ennen
2013, Amphibia-Reptilia (34) 11-23
The “information age” ushered in an explosion of knowledge and access to knowledge that continues to revolutionize society. Knowledge about turtles, as measured by number of published papers, has been growing at an exponential rate since the early 1970s, a phenomenon mirrored in all scientific disciplines. Although knowledge about turtles,...
Fragmentation and thermal risks from climate change interact to affect persistence of native trout in the Colorado River basin
James Roberts, Kurt D. Fausch, Douglas P. Peterson, Mevin Hooten
2013, Global Change Biology (19) 1383-1398
Impending changes in climate will interact with other stressors to threaten aquatic ecosystems and their biota. Native Colorado River cutthroat trout (CRCT; Oncorhynchus clarkii pleuriticus) are now relegated to 309 isolated high-elevation (>1700 m) headwater stream fragments in the Upper Colorado River Basin, owing to...
At-sea behavior varies with lunar phase in a nocturnal pelagic seabird, the swallow-tailed gull
Sebastian M. Cruz, Mevin Hooten, Kathryn P. Huyvaert, Carolina B. Proano, David J. Anderson, Vsevolod Afanasyev, Martin Wikelski
2013, PLoS ONE (8)
Strong and predictable environmental variability can reward flexible behaviors among animals. We used long-term records of activity data that cover several lunar cycles to investigate whether behavior at-sea of swallow-tailed gulls Creagrus furcatus, a nocturnal pelagic seabird, varied with lunar phase in the Galápagos Islands. A Bayesian hierarchical model showed...
Aggregation of carbon dioxide sequestration storage assessment units
Madalyn S. Blondes, John H. Schuenemeyer, Ricardo A. Olea, Lawrence J. Drew
2013, Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment (27) 1839-1859
The U.S. Geological Survey is currently conducting a national assessment of carbon dioxide (CO2) storage resources, mandated by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. Pre-emission capture and storage of CO2 in subsurface saline formations is one potential method to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the negative impact of...
Database for the Geologic Map of Newberry Volcano, Deschutes, Klamath, and Lake Counties, Oregon
Joseph A. Bard, David W. Ramsey, Norman S. MacLeod, David R. Sherrod, Lawrence A. Chitwood, Robert A. Jensen
2013, Data Series 771
Newberry Volcano, one of the largest Quaternary volcanoes in the conterminous United States, is a broad shield-shaped volcano measuring 60 km north-south by 30 km east-west with a maximum elevation of more than 2 km. Newberry Volcano is the product of deposits from thousands of eruptions, including at least 25...
The continuum of hydroclimate variability in western North America during the last millennium
Toby R. Ault, Julia E. Cole, Jonathan T. Overpeck, Gregory T. Pederson, Scott St. George, Bette Otto-Bliesner, Connie A. Woodhouse, Clara Deser
2013, Journal of Climate (26) 5863-5878
The distribution of climatic variance across the frequency spectrum has substantial importance for anticipating how climate will evolve in the future. Here we estimate power spectra and power laws (ß) from instrumental, proxy, and climate model data to characterize the hydroclimate continuum in western North America (WNA). We test the...
Use of exposure history to identify patterns of immunity to pneumonia in bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis)
Raina K. Plowright, Kezia Manlove, E. Frances Cassirer, Thomas H. Besser, Peter J. Hudson
2013, PLoS ONE (8)
Individual host immune responses to infectious agents drive epidemic behavior and are therefore central to understanding and controlling infectious diseases. However, important features of individual immune responses, such as the strength and longevity of immunity, can be challenging to characterize, particularly if they cannot be replicated or controlled in captive...
A national streamflow network gap analysis
Julie E. Kiang, David W. Stewart, Stacey A. Archfield, Emily B. Osborne, Ken Eng
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5013
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted a gap analysis to evaluate how well the USGS streamgage network meets a variety of needs, focusing on the ability to calculate various statistics at locations that have streamgages (gaged) and that do not have streamgages (ungaged). This report presents the results of analysis...
The landfall and inland penetration of a flood-producing atmospheric river in Arizona. Part I: observed synoptic-scale, orographic, and hydrometeorological characteristics
Paul J. Neiman, F. Martin Ralph, Benjamin J. Moore, Mimi Hughes, Kelly M. Mahoney, Jason M. Cordeira, Michael D. Dettinger
2013, Journal of Hydrometeorology (14) 460-484
Atmospheric rivers (ARs) are a dominant mechanism for generating intense wintertime precipitation along the U.S. West Coast. While studies over the past 10 years have explored the impact of ARs in, and west of, California’s Sierra Nevada and the Pacific Northwest’s Cascade Mountains, their influence on the weather across the...
