Monitoring of endangered Roanoke logperch (Percina rex) in Smith River upstream from the Philpott Reservoir on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers property near Martinsville, Virginia
James H. Roberts, Paul L. Angermeier
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1221
The purpose of this study was to continue annual monitoring of Roanoke logperch (Percina rex), an endangered fish, in the Smith River immediately upstream from Philpott Reservoir. This river reach is owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), which must ensure that appropriate actions are undertaken to aid...
Geology of the Prince William Sound and Kenai Peninsula region, Alaska: Including the Kenai, Seldovia, Blying Sound, Cordova, and Middleton Island 1:250,000-scale quadrangles
Frederic H. Wilson, Chad P. Hults
2012, Scientific Investigations Map 3110
The Prince William Sound and Kenai Peninsula region includes a significant part of one of the world’s largest accretionary complexes and a small part of the classic magmatic arc geology of the Alaska Peninsula. Physiographically, the map area ranges from the high glaciated mountains of the Alaska and Aleutian Ranges...
Groundwater status and trends for the Columbia Plateau Regional Aquifer System, Washington, Oregon, and Idaho
Erick R. Burns, Daniel T. Snyder, Jonathan V. Haynes, Michael S. Waibel
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5261
Well information and groundwater-level measurements for the Columbia Plateau Regional Aquifer System in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, were compiled from data provided by the U.S. Geological Survey and seven other organizations. From the full set of about 60,000 wells and 450,000 water-level measurements a subset of 761 wells within the...
Response of biological soil crust diazotrophs to season, altered summer precipitation, and year-round increased temperature in an arid grassland of the Colorado Plateau, USA
Chris M. Yeager, Cheryl R. Kuske, Travis D. Carney, Shannon L. Johnson, Lawrence O. Ticknor, Jayne Belnap
2012, Frontiers in Terrestrial Microbiology (3)
Biological soil crusts (biocrusts), which supply significant amounts of fixed nitrogen into terrestrial ecosystems worldwide (~33Tg y-1), are likely to respond to changes in temperature and precipitation associated with climate change. Using nifH gene-based surveys, we explored variation in the diazotrophic community of biocrusts of the Colorado Plateau, USA in...
Recent and historic sediment dynamics along Difficult Run, a suburban Virginia Piedmont stream
Cliff R. Hupp, Gregory B. Noe, Edward R. Schenk, Adam J. Benthem
2012, Geomorphology (180-181)
Suspended sediment is one of the major concerns regarding the quality of water entering the Chesapeake Bay. Some of the highest suspended-sediment concentrations occur on Piedmont streams, including Difficult Run, a tributary of the Potomac River draining urban and suburban parts of northern Virginia. Accurate information on catchment level sediment...
Total nitrogen and suspended-sediment loads and identification of suspended-sediment sources in the Laurel Hill Creek watershed, Somerset County, Pennsylvania, water years 2010-11
Ronald A. Sloto, Allen C. Gellis, Daniel G. Galeone
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5250
Laurel Hill Creek is a watershed of 125 square miles located mostly in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, with small areas extending into Fayette and Westmoreland Counties. The upper part of the watershed is on the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection 303(d) list of impaired streams because of siltation, nutrients, and low...
Lake water quality: Chapter 4 in A synthesis of aquatic science for management of Lakes Mead and Mohave
Todd Tietjen, G. Chris Holdren, Michael R. Rosen, Ronald J. Veley, Michael J. Moran, Brett Vanderford, Wai Hing Wong, Douglas D. Drury
2012, Circular 1381-4
Given the importance of the availability and quality of water in Lake Mead, it has become one of the most intensely sampled and studied bodies of water in the United States. As a result, data are available from sampling stations across the lake (fig. 4-1 and see U.S. Geological Survey...
Threats and stressors to the health of the ecosystems of Lakes Mead and Mohave: Chapter 6 in A synthesis of aquatic science for management of Lakes Mead and Mohave
Michael R. Rosen, Steven L. Goodbred, Wai Hing Wong, Reynaldo Patiño, Kent Turner, Craig J. Palmer, Peggy Roefer
2012, Circular 1381-6
Ecosystem impacts from visitor activities or natural environmental change are important concerns in all units of the National Park system. Possible impacts to aquatic ecosystems at Lake Mead National Recreation Area (LMNRA) are of particular concern because of the designation of Lakes Mead and Mohave as critical habitat for the...
Wildlife and biological resources: Chapter 5 in A synthesis of aquatic science for management of Lakes Mead and Mohave
Sudeep Chandra, Scott R. Abella, Brandon A. Albrecht, Joseph G. Barnes, E. Cayenne Engel, Steven L. Goodbred, Paul B. Holden, Ron B. Kegerries, Jef R. Jaeger, Erik Orsak, Michael R. Rosen, Jon Sjöberg, Wai Hing Wong
2012, Circular 1381-5
The creation of Lakes Mead and Mohave drastically changed habitats originally found along their region of the historical Colorado River. While still continuing to provide habitat conditions that support a rich diversity of species within the water, along shorelines, and in adjacent drainage areas, the reservoirs contain organisms that are...
A synthesis of aquatic science for management of Lakes Mead and Mohave
Michael R. Rosen, Kent Turner, Steven L. Goodbred, Jennell M. Miller
2012, Circular 1381
Lakes Mead and Mohave, which are the centerpieces of Lake Mead National Recreation Area, provide many significant benefits that have made the modern development of the Southwestern United States possible. Lake Mead is the largest reservoir by volume in the nation and it supplies critical storage of water supplies for...
Hydrology and management of Lakes Mead and Mohave within the Colorado River Basin: Chapter 3 in A synthesis of aquatic science for management of Lakes Mead and Mohave
G. Chris Holdren, Todd Tietjen, Kent Turner, Jennell M. Miller
2012, Circular 1381-3
The Colorado River Basin covers parts of seven States: Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona, and California; at 1,450 mi (2,333.5 km) in length, the Colorado River is the seventh longest river in the United States (fig. 3-1). The Bureau of Reclamation has the responsibility for management of this...
Environmental setting of Lake Mead National Recreation Area: Chapter 2 in A synthesis of aquatic science for management of Lakes Mead and Mohave
Kent Turner, Michael R. Rosen, G. Chris Holdren, Steven L. Goodbred, David C. Twichell
2012, Circular 1381-2
Lakes Mead and Mohave provide opportunities for millions of regional, national, and international visitors to enjoy a wide array of water-based recreation in a spectacular desert setting. The national significance of the site’s recreational opportunities and scientific values led to its designation as the nation’s first National Recreation Area in...
Management implications of the science: Chapter 7 in A synthesis of aquatic science for management of Lakes Mead and Mohave
Kent Turner, Steven L. Goodbred, Michael R. Rosen, Jennell M. Miller
2012, Circular 1381-7
Lake Mead, particularly its Boulder Basin, is one of the most intensively monitored reservoirs in the United States. With its importance to societal needs and ecosystem benefits, interest in water quality and water resources of Lake Mead will remain high. A number of agencies have authorities and management interests in...
Introduction and summary of findings
Kent Turner, Michael R. Rosen, Steven L. Goodbred, Jennell M. Miller
2012, Circular 1381-1
Lakes Mead and Mohave, which are the centerpieces of Lake Mead National Recreation Area (LMNRA), provide many significant benefits that have made the modern development of the Southwestern United States possible. Lake Mead is the largest reservoir by volume in the nation and it supplies critical storage of water supplies...
Methods to characterize environmental settings of stream and groundwater sampling sites for National Water-Quality Assessment
Naomi Nakagaki, Kerie J. Hitt, Curtis V. Price, James A. Falcone
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5194
Characterization of natural and anthropogenic features that define the environmental settings of sampling sites for streams and groundwater, including drainage basins and groundwater study areas, is an essential component of water-quality and ecological investigations being conducted as part of the U.S. Geological Survey's National Water-Quality Assessment program. Quantitative characterization of...
Sampling history and 2009--2010 results for pesticides and inorganic constituents monitored by the Lake Wales Ridge Groundwater Network, central Florida
Anne F. Choquette, R. Scott Freiwald, Carol L. Kraft
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1231
The Lake Wales Ridge Monitoring (LWRM) Network was established to provide a long-term record of water quality of the surficial aquifer in one of the principal citrus-production areas of Florida. This region is underlain by sandy soils that contain minimal organic matter and are highly vulnerable to leaching of chemicals...
Sediment dynamics in the restored reach of the Kissimmee River Basin, Florida: A vast subtropical riparian wetland
E.R. Schenk, C.R. Hupp, A. Gellis
2012, River Research and Applications (28) 1753-1767
Historically, the Kissimmee River Basin consisted of a broad nearly annually inundated riparian wetland similar in character to tropical Southern Hemisphere large rivers. The river was channelized in the 1960s and 1970s, draining the wetland. The river is currently being restored with over 10 000 hectares of wetlands being reconnected to...
Geologic map of Three Sisters volcanic cluster, Cascade Range, Oregon
Wes Hildreth, Judy Fierstein, Andrew T. Calvert
2012, Scientific Investigations Map 3186
The cluster of glaciated stratovolcanoes called the Three Sisters—South Sister, Middle Sister, and North Sister—forms a spectacular 20-km-long reach along the crest of the Cascade Range in Oregon. The three eponymous stratocones, though contiguous and conventionally lumped sororally, could hardly display less family resemblance. North Sister (10,085 ft), a monotonously...
Low-flow frequency and flow duration of selected South Carolina streams in the Saluda, Congaree, and Edisto River basins through March 2009
Toby D. Feaster, Wladmir B. Guimaraes
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1253
Part of the mission of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control and the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources is to protect and preserve South Carolina's water resources. Doing so requires an ongoing understanding of streamflow characteristics of the rivers and streams in South Carolina. A particular...
Evaluation of quality-control data collected by the U.S. Geological Survey for routine water-quality activities at the Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho, 1996–2001
Gordon W. Rattray
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5270
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy, collects surface water and groundwater samples at and near the Idaho National Laboratory as part of a routine, site-wide, water-quality monitoring program. Quality-control samples are collected as part of the program to ensure and document the quality of...
Comparison of two regression-based approaches for determining nutrient and sediment fluxes and trends in the Chesapeake Bay watershed
Douglas Moyer, Robert M. Hirsch, Kenneth Hyer
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5244
Nutrient and sediment fluxes and changes in fluxes over time are key indicators that water resource managers can use to assess the progress being made in improving the structure and function of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. The U.S. Geological Survey collects annual nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) and sediment flux data...
Implications of NGA for NEHRP site coefficients
Roger D. Borcherdt
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1269
Three proposals are provided to update tables 11.4-1 and 11.4-2 of Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures (7-10), by the American Society of Civil Engineers (2010) (ASCE/SEI 7-10), with site coefficients implied directly by NGA (Next Generation Attenuation) ground motion prediction equations (GMPEs). Proposals include a recommendation to...
An economic value of remote-sensing information—Application to agricultural production and maintaining groundwater quality
William M. Forney, Ronald P. Raunikar, Richard L. Bernknopf, Shruti K. Mishra
2012, Professional Paper 1796
Does remote-sensing information provide economic benefits to society, and can a value be assigned to those benefits? Can resource management and policy decisions be better informed by coupling past and present Earth observations with groundwater nitrate measurements? Using an integrated assessment approach, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) applied an established...
Observations of ocean circulation and sediment transport experiment offshore of Fire Island, NY
Marinna A. Martini, John C. Warner, Brandy Armstrong, Jeffrey H. List, Ellyn Montgomery, Nicole Marshall
2012, Conference Paper, Proceedings of 2012 Oceans
Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center (WHCMSC), in collaboration with Coastal Carolina University (CCU) and University of South Carolina (USC), conducted a scientific field study to investigate the ocean circulation and sediment transport processes offshore of Fire Island, NY. Although the physical...
Laboratory triggering of stick-slip events by oscillatory loading in the presence of pore fluid with implications for physics of tectonic tremor
Noel M. Bartlow, David A. Lockner, Nicholas M. Beeler
2012, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (117) 1-11
The physical mechanism by which the low-frequency earthquakes (LFEs) that make up portions of tectonic (also called non-volcanic) tremor are created is poorly understood. In many areas of the world, tectonic tremor and LFEs appear to be strongly tidally modulated, whereas ordinary earthquakes are not. Anomalous seismic wave speeds, interpreted...
