Drill hole data for coal beds in the Powder River Basin, Montana and Wyoming
Jon E. Haacke, David C. Scott
2013, Data Series 713
This report by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) of the Powder River Basin (PRB) of Montana and Wyoming is part of the U.S. Coal Resources and Reserves Assessment Project. Essential to that project was the creation of a comprehensive drill hole database that was used for coal bed correlation and...
Salmon-mediated nutrient flux in selected streams of the Columbia River basin, USA
Andre E. Kohler, Paul C. Kusnierz, Timothy Copeland, David A. Venditti, Lytle Denny, Josh Gable, Bert Lewis, Ryan Kinzer, Bruce Barnett, Mark S. Wipfli
2013, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (70) 502-512
Salmon provide an important resource subsidy and linkage between marine and land-based ecosystems. This flow of energy and nutrients is not uni-directional (i.e., upstream only); in addition to passive nutrient export via stream flow, juvenile emigrants actively export nutrients from freshwater environments. In some cases, nutrient export can exceed import....
Anaerobic methane oxidation in low-organic content methane seep sediments
John W. Pohlman, Michael Riedel, James E. Bauer, Elizabeth A. Canuel, Charles K. Paull, Laura Lapham, Kenneth S. Grabowski, Richard B. Coffin, George D. Spence
2013, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (108) 184-201
Sulfate-dependent anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) is the key sedimentary microbial process limiting methane emissions from marine sediments and methane seeps. In this study, we investigate how the presence of low-organic content sediment influences the capacity and efficiency of AOM at Bullseye vent, a gas hydrate-bearing cold seep offshore of...
A comprehensive change detection method for updating the National Land Cover Database to circa 2011
Suming Jin, Limin Yang, Patrick Danielson, Collin G. Homer, Joyce Fry, George Xian
2013, Remote Sensing of Environment (132) 159-175
The importance of characterizing, quantifying, and monitoring land cover, land use, and their changes has been widely recognized by global and environmental change studies. Since the early 1990s, three U.S. National Land Cover Database (NLCD) products (circa 1992, 2001, and 2006) have been released as free downloads for users. The...
A comment on "Novel scavenger removal trials increase wind turbine-caused avian fatality estimates"
Manuela M.P. Huso, Wallace P. Erickson
2013, Journal of Wildlife Management (77) 213-215
In a recent paper, Smallwood et al. (2010) conducted a study to compare their “novel” approach to conducting carcass removal trials with what they term the “conventional” approach and to evaluate the effects of the different methods on estimated avian fatality at a wind power facility in California. A quick...
Correlation of geothermal springs with sub-surface fault terminations revealed by high-resolution, UAV-acquired magnetic data
Jonathan M.G. Glen, A.E. Egger, C. Ippolito, N.Athens
2013, Conference Paper, Proceedings Thirty-eighth Workshop on Geothermal Reservoir Engineering
There is widespread agreement that geothermal springs in extensional geothermal systems are concentrated at fault tips and in fault interaction zones where porosity and permeability are dynamically maintained (Curewitz and Karson, 1997; Faulds et al., 2010). Making these spatial correlations typically involves geological and geophysical studies in order to map...
Hyperspectral surface materials map of quadrangle 3562, Khawja-Jir (403) and Murghab (404) quadrangles, Afghanistan, showing iron-bearing minerals and other materials
Trude King, Todd M. Hoefen, Raymond F. Kokaly, Keith E. Livo, Michaela R. Johnson, Stuart A. Giles
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1202-B
This map shows the spatial distribution of selected iron-bearing minerals and other materials derived from analysis of airborne HyMap™ imaging spectrometer (hyperspectral) data of Afghanistan collected in late 2007. This map is one in a series of U.S. Geological Survey/Afghanistan Geological Survey quadrangle maps covering Afghanistan. Flown at an altitude of...
Fens as whole-ecosystem gauges of groundwater recharge under climate change
Judith Z. Drexler, Donna L. Knifong, JayLee Tuil, Lorraine E. Flint, Alan L. Flint
2013, Journal of Hydrology (481) 22-34
Currently, little is known about the impact of climate change on groundwater recharge in the Sierra Nevada and southern Cascade Range of California or other mountainous regions of the world. The purpose of this study was to determine whether small alpine peat lands called fens can be used as whole-ecosystem...
An ecohydraulic model to identify and monitor moapa dace habitat
James R. Hatten, Thomas R. Batt, Gayton G. Scoppettone, Christopher J. Dixon
2013, PLoS ONE (8)
Moapa dace (Moapa coriacea) is a critically endangered thermophilic minnow native to the Muddy River ecosystem in southeastern Nevada, USA. Restricted to temperatures between 26.0 and 32.0°C, these fish are constrained to the upper two km of the Muddy River and several small tributaries fed by warm springs. Habitat alterations,...
Nitrate in watersheds: straight from soils to streams?
Elizabeth B. Sudduth, Steven S. Perakis, Emily S. Bernhardt
2013, Journal of Geophysical Research G: Biogeosciences (118) 291-302
Human activities are rapidly increasing the global supply of reactive N and substantially altering the structure and hydrologic connectivity of managed ecosystems. There is long-standing recognition that N must be removed along hydrologic flowpaths from uplands to streams, yet it has proven difficult to assess the generality of this removal...
Water quality in the Anacostia River, Maryland and Rock Creek, Washington, D.C.: Continuous and discrete monitoring with simulations to estimate concentrations and yields of nutrients, suspended sediment, and bacteria
Cherie V. Miller, Jeffrey G. Chanat, Joseph M. Bell
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1034
Concentrations and loading estimates for nutrients, suspended sediment, and E. coli bacteria were summarized for three water-quality monitoring stations on the Anacostia River in Maryland and one station on Rock Creek in Washington, D.C. Both streams are tributaries to the Potomac River in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and contribute...
Adjusting survival estimates for premature transmitter failure: A case study from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
Christopher M. Holbrook, Russell W. Perry, Patricia L. Brandes, Noah S. Adams
2013, Environmental Biology of Fishes (96) 165-173
In telemetry studies, premature tag failure causes negative bias in fish survival estimates because tag failure is interpreted as fish mortality. We used mark-recapture modeling to adjust estimates of fish survival for a previous study where premature tag failure was documented. High rates of tag failure occurred during the Vernalis...
Site preparation for switchgrass intercropping in loblolly pine plantations reduces retained trees and snags, but maintains downed woody debris
Zachary G. Loman, Samuel K. Riffell, Darrin A. Miller, James A. Martin, Francisco Vilella
2013, Forestry (86) 353-360
Within young pine (Pinus spp.) plantations, coarse woody debris (CWD) and green trees are important habitat structures that may be impacted by the production of biofuel feedstock. Therefore, we compared site preparation procedures associated with switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) intercropping to determine effects on CWD and green trees in stands...
A conceptual prototype for the next-generation national elevation dataset
Jason M. Stoker, Hans Karl Heidemann, Gayla A. Evans, Susan K. Greenlee
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1023
In 2012 the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) National Geospatial Program (NGP) funded a study to develop a conceptual prototype for a new National Elevation Dataset (NED) design with expanded capabilities to generate and deliver a suite of bare earth and above ground feature information over the United States. This report...
Comparison of filters for concentrating microbial indicators and pathogens in lake-water samples
Donna S. Francy, Erin A. Stelzer, Amie M. G. Brady, Carrie Huitger, Rebecca N. Bushon, S. Ip, Michael W. Ware, Eric N. Villegas, Vincent Gallardo, H.D. Alan Lindquist
2013, Applied and Environmental Microbiology (79) 1342-1352
Bacterial indicators are used to indicate increased health risk from pathogens and to make beach closure and advisory decisions; however, beaches are seldom monitored for the pathogens themselves. Studies of sources and types of pathogens at beaches are needed to improve estimates of swimming-associated health risks. It would be advantageous...
Using hand proportions to test taxonomic boundaries within the Tupaia glis species complex (Scandentia, Tupaiidae)
Eric J. Sargos, Neal Woodman, Aspen T. Reese, Link E. Olson
2013, Journal of Mammalogy (94) 183-201
Treeshrews (order Scandentia) comprise 2 families of squirrel-sized terrestrial, arboreal, and scansorial mammals distributed throughout much of tropical South and Southeast Asia. The last comprehensive taxonomic revision of treeshrews was published in 1913, and a well-supported phylogeny clarifying relationships among all currently recognized extant species within the order has only...
Community exposure to tsunami hazards in California
Nathan J. Wood, Jamie Ratliff, Jeff Peters
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5222
Evidence of past events and modeling of potential events suggest that tsunamis are significant threats to low-lying communities on the California coast. To reduce potential impacts of future tsunamis, officials need to understand how communities are vulnerable to tsunamis and where targeted outreach, preparedness, and mitigation efforts may be warranted....
Assessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources of North Africa, 2012
Christopher J. Schenk, Timothy R. Klett, Katherine J. Whidden, Mark A. Kirschbaum, Ronald R. Charpentier, Troy A. Cook, Michael E. Brownfield, Janet K. Pitman
2013, Fact Sheet 2012-3147
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated means of 19 billion barrels of technically recoverable undiscovered conventional oil and 370 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered conventional natural gas resources in 8 geologic provinces of North Africa....
Disease in a dynamic landscape: host behavior and wildfire reduce amphibian chytrid infection
Blake R. Hossack, Winsor H. Lowe, Joy L. Ware, Paul Stephen Corn
2013, Biological Conservation (157) 293-299
Disturbances are often expected to magnify effects of disease, but these effects may depend on the ecology, behavior, and life history of both hosts and pathogens. In many ecosystems, wildfire is the dominant natural disturbance and thus could directly or indirectly affect dynamics of many diseases. To determine how probability...
Predictive models for Escherichia coli concentrations at inland lake beaches and relationship of model variables to pathogen detection
Donna S. Francy, Erin A. Stelzer, Joseph W. Duris, Amie M. G. Brady, John H. Harrison, Heather E. Johnson, Michael W. Ware
2013, Applied and Environmental Microbiology (79) 1676-1688
Predictive models, based on environmental and water quality variables, have been used to improve the timeliness and accuracy of recreational water quality assessments, but their effectiveness has not been studied in inland waters. Sampling at eight inland recreational lakes in Ohio was done in order to investigate using predictive models...
Distribution of invasive ants and methods for their control in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park
Robert W. Peck, Paul C. Banko, Kirsten Snook, Melody Euaparadorn
2013, Technical Report HCSU-040
The first invasive ants were detected in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park (HAVO) more than 80 years ago. Ecological impacts of these ants are largely unknown, but studies in Hawai`i and elsewhere increasingly show that invasive ants can reduce abundance and diversity of native arthropod communities...
Conservation and Ecology of Marine Forage Fishes--Proceedings of a Research Symposium, September 2012
Theresa Liedtke, Caroline Gibson, Dayv Lowry, Duane Fagergren
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1035
Locally and globally, there is growing recognition of the critical roles that herring, smelt, sand lance, eulachon, and other forage fishes play in marine ecosystems. Scientific and resource management entities throughout the Salish Sea, agree that extensive information gaps exist, both in basic biological knowledge and parameters critical to fishery...
Development of flood profiles and flood-inundation maps for the Village of Killbuck, Ohio
Chad J. Ostheimer
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1032
Digital flood-inundation maps for a reach of Killbuck Creek near the Village of Killbuck, Ohio, were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with Holmes County, Ohio. The inundation maps depict estimates of the areal extent of flooding corresponding to water levels (stages) at the USGS streamgage Killbuck...
Potential for recovery of cerium contained in automotive catalytic converters
Donald I. Bleiwas
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1037
Catalytic converters (CATCONs) are required by Federal law to be installed in nearly all gasoline- and diesel-fueled onroad vehicles used in the United States. About 85 percent of the light-duty vehicles and trucks manufactured worldwide are equipped with CATCONs. Portions of the CATCONs (called monoliths) are recycled for their platinum-group...
Hydrogeologic framework and estimates of groundwater storage for the Hualapai Valley, Detrital Valley, and Sacramento Valley basins, Mohave County, Arizona
Margot Truini, L. Sue Beard, Jeffrey Kennedy, Dave W. Anning
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5275
We have investigated the hydrogeology of the Hualapai Valley, Detrital Valley, and Sacramento Valley basins of Mohave County in northwestern Arizona to develop a better understanding of groundwater storage within the basin fill aquifers. In our investigation we used geologic maps, well-log data, and geophysical surveys to delineate the sedimentary...
