Temporal and spatial variability of global water balance
Gregory J. McCabe, David M. Wolock
2013, Climatic Change (120) 375-387
An analysis of simulated global water-balance components (precipitation [P], actual evapotranspiration [AET], runoff [R], and potential evapotranspiration [PET]) for the past century indicates that P has been the primary driver of variability in R. Additionally, since about 2000, there have been increases in P, AET, R, and PET for most...
Extreme rainfall, vulnerability and risk: a continental-scale assessment for South America
Charles J. Vorosmarty, Lelys Bravo de Guenni, Wilfred M. Wollheim, Brian A. Pellerin, David M. Bjerklie, Manoel Cardoso, Cassiano D’Almeida, Lilybeth Colon
2013, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences
Extreme weather continues to preoccupy society as a formidable public safety concern bearing huge economic costs. While attention has focused on global climate change and how it could intensify key elements of the water cycle such as precipitation and river discharge, it is the conjunction of geophysical and socioeconomic forces...
Mapping risk for nest predation on a barrier island
Amanda D. Hackney, Robert F. Baldwin, Patrick G.R. Jodice
2013, Journal of Coastal Conservation (17) 615-621
Barrier islands and coastal beach systems provide nesting habitat for marine and estuarine turtles. Densely settled coastal areas may subsidize nest predators. Our purpose was to inform conservation by providing a greater understanding of habitat-based risk factors for nest predation, for an estuarine turtle. We expected that habitat conditions at...
Intrusive dike complexes, cumulate cores, and the extrusive growth of Hawaiian volcanoes
Ashton F. Flinders, Garrett Ito, Michael O. Garcia, John M. Sinton, Jim Kauahikaua, Brian Taylor
2013, Geophysical Research Letters (40) 3367-3373
The Hawaiian Islands are the most geologically studied hot-spot islands in the world yet surprisingly, the only large-scale compilation of marine and land gravity data is more than 45 years old. Early surveys served as reconnaissance studies only, and detailed analyses of the crustal-density structure have been limited. Here we present...
Implications of multi-scale sea level and climate variability for coastal resources
Christina Karamperidou, Victor Engel, Upmanu Lall, Erik Stabenau, Thomas J. Smith III
2013, Regional Environmental Change (13) 91-100
While secular changes in regional sea levels and their implications for coastal zone management have been studied extensively, less attention is being paid to natural fluctuations in sea levels, whose interaction with a higher mean level could have significant impacts on low-lying areas, such as wetlands. Here, the long record...
Role of a polymorphism in a Hox/Pax-responsive enhancer in the evolution of the vertebrate spine
Isabel Guerreiro, Andreia Nunes, Joost M. Woltering, Ana Casaca, Ana Novoa, Tania Vinagre, Margaret E. Hunter, Denis Duboule, Moises Mallo
2013, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (110) 10682-10686
Patterning of the vertebrate skeleton requires the coordinated activity of Hox genes. In particular, Hox10 proteins are essential to set the transition from thoracic to lumbar vertebrae because of their rib-repressing activity. In snakes, however, the thoracic region extends well into Hox10-expressing areas of the embryo, suggesting that these proteins...
Estimating abundance while accounting for rarity, correlated behavior, and other sources of variation in counts
Robert M. Dorazio, Juulien Martin, Holly H. Edwards
2013, Ecology (94) 1472-1478
The class of N-mixture models allows abundance to be estimated from repeated, point count surveys while adjusting for imperfect detection of individuals. We developed an extension of N-mixture models to account for two commonly observed phenomena in point count surveys: rarity and lack of independence induced by unmeasurable sources of...
Settlement of the USS Arizona, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
Brad A. Carkin, Robert E. Kayen
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5096
The U.S. Geological Survey, in collaboration with the National Park Service Submerged Resources Center, undertook investigations at the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in 2002, 2003, and 2005 to characterize geological factors affecting the deterioration and movement of the hull of the USS Arizona. Since sinking on the...
Comparison of methods for predicting shear-wave velocities of unconsolidated shallow sediments in the Gulf of Mexico
Myung W. Lee
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5141
Accurate shear-wave velocities for shallow sediments are important for a variety of seismic applications such as inver-sion and amplitude versus offset analysis. During the U.S. Department of Energy-sponsored Gas Hydrate Joint Industry Project Leg II, shear-wave velocities were measured at six wells in the Gulf of Mexico using the logging-while-drilling...
Onset of deglacial warming in West Antarctica driven by local orbital forcing
WAIS Divide Project Members, T. J. Fudge, Eric J. Steig, Bradley R. Markle, Spruce W. Schoenemann, Qinghua Ding, Kendrick C. Taylor, Joseph R. McConnell, Edward J. Brook, Todd Sowers, James W. C. White, Richard B. Alley, Hai Cheng, Gary D. Clow, Jihong Cole-Dai, Howard Conway, Kurt M. Cuffey, Jon S. Edwards, R. Lawrence Edwards, Ross Edwards, John M. Fegyveresi, David Ferris, Joan J. Fitzpatrick, Jay Johnson, Geoffrey Hargreaves, James E. Lee, Olivia J. Maselli, William Mason, Kenneth C. McGwire, Logan E. Mitchell, Nicolai B. Mortensen, Peter Neff, Anais J. Orsi, Trevor J. Popp, Andrew J. Schauer, Jeffrey P. Severinghaus, Michael Sigl, Matthew K. Spencer, Bruce H. Vaughn, Donald E. Voigt, Edwin D. Waddington, Xianfeng Wang, Gifford J. Wong
2013, Nature (500) 440-444
The cause of warming in the Southern Hemisphere during the most recent deglaciation remains a matter of debate. Hypotheses for a Northern Hemisphere trigger, through oceanic redistributions of heat, are based in part on the abrupt onset of warming seen in East Antarctic ice cores and dated to 18,000...
U.S. mineral dependence—Statistical compilation of U.S. and world mineral production, consumption, and trade, 1990–2010
James J. Barry, Grecia R. Matos, W. David Menzie
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1184
This report provides insight into the dependence of the United States on foreign supply to meet the country’s mineral needs. When determining vulnerabilities to the U.S. supply, it is not enough to look solely at the mining source for each mineral to determine the potential impact that a supply disruption...
The 3D Elevation Program: summary for Colorado
William J. Carswell Jr.
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3050
Elevation data are essential to a broad range of applications, including forest resources management, wildlife and habitat management, national security, recreation, and many others. For the State of Colorado, elevation data are critical for natural resources conservation, agriculture and precision farming, infrastructure and construction management, flood risk management, geologic resource...
Reconstructing vegetation response to altered hydrology and its use for restoration, Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, Florida
Christopher E. Bernhardt, Laura A. Brandt, Bryan D. Landacre, Marci E. Marot, Debra A. Willard
2013, Wetlands (33) 1139-1149
We present reconstructed hydrologic and vegetation trends of the last three centuries across the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, Florida in order to understand the effects of 20th century water management. We analyzed pollen assemblages from cores at marsh sites along three transects to document vegetation and infer...
Three new Psammothidium species from lakes of Olympic and Cascade Mountains in Washington State, USA
Mihaela D. Enache, Marina Potapova, Rich Sheibley, Patrick Moran
2013, Phytotaxa (127) 49-57
Populations of several Psammothidium species were found in core sediments from nine remote, high elevation, ultraoligotrophic and oligotrophic, Olympic and Cascade Mountain lakes. Three of these species, P. lacustre, P. alpinum, and P. nivale, are described here as new. The morphology of the silica frustules of these species was documented...
Histopathological analysis of fish from Acorn Fork Creek, Kentucky exposed to hydraulic fracturing fluid releases
Diana M. Papoulias, Anthony L. Velasco
2013, Southeastern Naturalist (12) 92-111
Fracking fluids were released into Acorn Fork, KY, a designated Outstanding State Resource Water, and habitat for the threatened Chrosomus cumberlandensis (Blackside Dace). As a result, stream pH dropped to 5.6 and stream conductivity increased to 35,000 μS/cm, and aquatic invertebrates and fish were killed or distressed. The objective of this study was to...
In vitro prion protein conversion suggests risk of bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) to transmissible spongiform encephalopathies
Christopher J. Johnson, A.R. Morawski, C.M. Carlson, H. Chang
2013, BMC Veterinary Research (9)
Background: Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) affect both domestic sheep (scrapie) and captive and free-ranging cervids (chronic wasting disease; CWD). The geographical range of bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis; BHS) overlaps with states or provinces that have contained scrapie-positive sheep or goats and areas with present epizootics of CWD in cervids. No...
A sand budget for Marble Canyon, Arizona: implications for long-term monitoring of sand storage change
Paul E. Grams
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3074
Recent U.S. Geological Survey research is providing important insights into how best to monitor changes in the amount of tributary-derived sand stored on the bed of the Colorado River and in eddies in Marble Canyon, Arizona. Before the construction of Glen Canyon Dam and other dams upstream, sandbars in Glen,...
Bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) movement in relation to water temperature, season, and habitat features in Arrowrock Reservoir, Idaho, 2012
Terry R. Maret, Justin E. Schultz
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5158
Acoustic telemetry was used to determine spring to summer (April–August) movement and habitat use of bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) in Arrowrock Reservoir (hereafter “Arrowrock”), a highly regulated reservoir in the Boise River Basin of southwestern Idaho. Water management practices annually use about 86 percent of the reservoir water volume to...
Great gray owls (Strix nebulosa) in Yosemite National Park: on the importance of food, forest structure, and human disturbance
Charles van Riper III, Joseph J. Fontaine, Jan W. van Wagtendonk
2013, Natural Areas Journal (33) 286-295
We studied great gray owls (Strix nebulosa Forster) in Yosemite National Park, California, measuring variables that could potentially influence patterns of occurrence and conservation of this stateendangered species. We found that owl presence was closely tied to habitat (red fir (Abies magnified A. Murray) and the abundance of meadows), prey,...
Water levels and water quality in the Sparta-Memphis aquifer (middle Claiborne aquifer) in Arkansas, spring-summer 2009
T.P. Schrader
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5100
The U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission and the Arkansas Geological Survey has monitored water levels in the Sparta Sand of Claiborne Group and Memphis Sand of Claiborne Group (herein referred to as the Sparta Sand and the Memphis Sand, respectively) since the 1920s. Groundwater...
Analysis and inundation mapping of the April-May 2011 flood at selected locations in northern and eastern Arkansas and southern Missouri
Drew A. Westerman, Katherine R. Merriman, Jeanne L. De Lanois, Charles Berenbrock
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5148
Precipitation that fell from April 19 through May 3, 2011, resulted in widespread flooding across northern and eastern Arkansas and southern Missouri. The first storm produced a total of approximately 16 inches of precipitation over an 8-day period, and the following storms produced as much as 12 inches of precipitation...
Reconnaissance investigation of the alluvial gold deposits in the North Takhar Area of Interest, Takhar Province, Afghanistan
Peter G. Chirico, Katherine C. Malpeli, Thomas W. Moran
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1180
This study is a reconnaissance assessment of the alluvial gold deposits of the North Takhar Area of Interest (AOI) in Takhar Province, Afghanistan. Soviet and Afghan geologists collected data and calculated the gold deposit reserves in Takhar Province in the 1970s, prior to the development of satellite-based remote-sensing platforms and...
Reconnaissance investigation of the placer gold deposits in the Zarkashan Area of Interest, Ghazni Province, Afghanistan
Katherine C. Malpeli, Peter G. Chirico, Isabel H. McLoughlin
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1179
This study is a reconnaissance investigation of the placer gold deposits in the Zarkashan Area of Interest (AOI) in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan. Detailed investigations of the Zarkashan gold deposits were conducted by Soviet and Afghan geologists in the 1960s and 1970s, prior to the development of satellite-based remote-sensing platforms and...
Assessing hazards along our Nation's coasts
Hilary F. Stockdon, Cheryl J. Hapke, E. Robert Thieler, Nathaniel G. Plant
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3077
Coastal areas are essential to the economic, cultural, and environmental health of the Nation, yet by nature coastal areas are constantly changing due to a variety of events and processes. Extreme storms can cause dramatic changes to our shorelines in a matter of hours, while sea-level rise can profoundly alter...
Coastal change from Hurricane Sandy and the 2012-13 winter storm season: Fire Island, New York
Cheryl J. Hapke, Owen Brenner, Rachel E. Henderson, B.J. Reynolds
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1231
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) mounted a substantial effort in response to Hurricane Sandy including an assessment of the morphological impacts to the beach and dune system at Fire Island, New York. Field surveys of the beach and dunes collected just prior to and after landfall were used to quantify...
