Climatic correlates of tree mortality in water- and energy-limited forests
Adrian J. Das, Nathan L. Stephenson, Alan Flint, Tapash Das, Phillip J. van Mantgem
2013, PLoS ONE (8)
Recent increases in tree mortality rates across the western USA are correlated with increasing temperatures, but mechanisms remain unresolved. Specifically, increasing mortality could predominantly be a consequence of temperature-induced increases in either (1) drought stress, or (2) the effectiveness of tree-killing insects and pathogens. Using long-term data from California’s Sierra...
An anti-steroidogenic inhibitory primer pheromone in male sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus)
Yu-Wen Chung-Davidson, Huiyong Wang, Mara B. Bryan, Hong Wu, Nicholas S. Johnson, Weiming Li
2013, General and Comparative Endocrinology (189) 24-31
Reproductive functions can be modulated by both stimulatory and inhibitory primer pheromones released by conspecifics. Many stimulatory primer pheromones have been documented, but relatively few inhibitory primer pheromones have been reported in vertebrates. The sea lamprey male sex pheromone system presents an advantageous model to explore the stimulatory and inhibitory...
Community variations in population exposure to near-field tsunami hazards as a function of pedestrian travel time to safety
Nathan J. Wood, Mathew C. Schmidtlein
2013, Natural Hazards (3) 1603-1628
Efforts to characterize population exposure to near-field tsunami threats typically focus on quantifying the number and type of people in tsunami-hazard zones. To develop and prioritize effective risk-reduction strategies, emergency managers also need information on the potential for successful evacuations and how this evacuation potential varies among communities. To improve...
Environmental, depositional and cultural changes in the upper Pleistocene and early Holocene; the Cinglera del Capello Sequence (Capellades, Spain)
Manuel Vaquero, Ethel Allue, James L. Bischoff, Francesc Burjachs, Josep Vallverdu
2013, Quaternaire (24) 49-64
The correlation between environmental and cultural changes is one of the primary archeological and paleoanthropological research topics. Analysis of ice and marine cores has yielded a high-resolution record of millennial-scale changes during the Late Pleistocene and Holocene eras. However, cultural changes are documented in low-resolution continental deposits; thus, their correlation...
Appraising options to reduce shallow groundwater tables and enhance flow conditions over regional scales in an irrigated alluvial aquifer system
Eric D. Morway, Timothy K. Gates, Richard G. Niswonger
2013, Journal of Hydrology (495) 216-237
Some of the world’s key agricultural production systems face big challenges to both water quantity and quality due to shallow groundwater that results from long-term intensive irrigation, namely waterlogging and salinity, water losses, and environmental problems. This paper focuses on water quantity issues, presenting finite-difference groundwater models developed to describe...
Some thoughts on the factors that controlled prehistoric maize production in the American Southwest with application to southwestern Colorado
L. V. Benson, D.K. Ramsey, D.W. Stahle, K.L. Petersen
2013, Journal of Archaeological Science (40) 2869-2880
In this paper, we present a model of prehistoric southwestern Colorado maize productivity. The model is based on a tree-ring reconstruction of water-year precipitation for Mesa Verde for the period A.D. 480 to 2011. Correlation of historic Mesa Verde precipitation with historic precipitation at 11 other weather stations enabled the...
Insights from a synthesis of old and new climate-proxy data from the Pyramid and Winnemucca lake basins for the period 48 to 11.5 cal ka
Larry Benson, J. P. Smoot, S.P. Lund, S.A. Mensing, F.F. Foit Jr., R. O. Rye
2013, Quaternary International (310) 62-82
A synthesis of old and new paleoclimatic data from the Pyramid and Winnemucca lake basins indicates that, between 48.0 and 11.5·103 calibrated years BP (hereafter ka), the climate of the western Great Basin was, to a degree, linked with the climate of the North Atlantic. Paleomagnetic secular variation (PSV) records...
Dating North America's oldest petroglyphs, Winnemucca Lake subbasin, Nevada
Larry V. Benson, E.M. Hattori, J. Southon, B. Aleck
2013, Journal of Archaeological Science (40) 4466-4476
On the west side of the Winnemucca Lake subbasin, Nevada, distinctive deeply carved meter-scale petroglyphs are closely spaced, forming panels on boulder-sized surfaces of a partially collapsed tufa mound. The large, complex motifs at this side are formed by deeply carved lines and cupules. A carbonate crust deposited between 10...
The aeromagnetic method as a tool to identify Cenozoic magmatism in the West Antarctic Rift System beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet: a review; Thiel subglacial volcano as possible source of the ash layer in the WAISCOR
John C. Behrendt
2013, Tectonophysics (585) 124-136
The West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) flows through the volcanically active West Antarctic Rift System (WARS). The aeromagnetic method has been the most useful geophysical tool for identification of subglacial volcanic rocks, since 1959–64 surveys, particularly combined with 1978 radar ice-sounding. The unique 1991–97 Central West Antarctica (CWA) aerogeophysical survey...
Volcanology: mobile magma under Antarctic ice
John C. Behrendt
2013, Nature Geoscience (6) 990-991
No abstract available....
Observations of the northern seasonal polar cap on Mars: I. Spring sublimation activity and processes
C.J. Hansen, Shane Byrne, Ganna Portyankina, Mary C. Bourke, Colin M. Dovichin, Alfred S. McEwen, Michael T. Mellon, Antoine Pommerol, N. Thomas
2013, Icarus (225) 881-897
Spring sublimation of the seasonal CO2 northern polar cap is a dynamic process in the current Mars climate. Phenomena include dark fans of dune material propelled out onto the seasonal ice layer, polygonal cracks in the seasonal ice, sand flow down slipfaces, and outbreaks of gas and sand around the...
Crater-based dating of geological units on Mars: methods and application for the new global geological map
Thomas Platz, Gregory Michael, Kenneth L. Tanaka, James A. Skinner, Corey M. Fortezzo
2013, Icarus (225) 806-827
The new, post-Viking generation of Mars orbital imaging and topographical data provide significant higher-resolution details of surface morphologies, which induced a new effort to photo-geologically map the surface of Mars at 1:20,000,000 scale. Although from unit superposition relations a relative stratigraphical framework can be compiled, it was the ambition of...
Optical techniques for the determination of nitrate in environmental waters: Guidelines for instrument selection, operation, deployment, maintenance, quality assurance, and data reporting
Brian A. Pellerin, Brian A. Bergamaschi, Bryan D. Downing, John Franco Saraceno, Jessica D. Garrett, Lisa D. Olsen
2013, Techniques and Methods 1-D5
The recent commercial availability of in situ optical sensors, together with new techniques for data collection and analysis, provides the opportunity to monitor a wide range of water-quality constituents on time scales in which environmental conditions actually change. Of particular interest is the application of ultraviolet (UV) photometers for in...
Implications for late Grenvillian (Rigolet phase) construction of Rodinia using new U-Pb data from the Mars Hill terrane, Tennessee and North Carolina, United States
John N. Aleinikoff, Scott Southworth, Arthur J. Merschat
2013, Geology (41) 1087-1090
New data for zircon (external morphology, cathodoluminescence zoning, and sensitive high resolution ion microprobe [SHRIMP] U-Pb ages) from the Carvers Gap granulite gneiss of the Mars Hill terrane (Tennessee and North Carolina, United States) require reevaluation of interpretations of the age and origin of this rock. The new results indicate...
Seasonal changes in peatland surface elevation recorded at GPS stations in the Red Lake Peatlands, northern Minnesota, USA
A.S. Reeve, P.H. Glaser, Donald O. Rosenberry
2013, Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences (118) 1616-1626
Northern peatlands appear to hold large volumes of free‐phase gas (e.g., CH4 and CO2), which has been detected by surface deformations, pore pressure profiles, and electromagnetic surveys. Determining the gas content and its impact in peat is challenging because gas storage depends on both the elastic properties of the peat...
Monitoring intensity and patterns of off-highway vehicle (OHV) use in remote areas of the western USA
Douglas S. Ouren, Alisa W. Coffin
2013, Oecologia Australis (17) 96-110
The continued growth of off-highway vehicle (OHV) activities – demonstrated by the dramatic increase in OHV sales, number of users, and areas experiencing OHV use – has elevated concerns about their ecological effects, the impacts on wildlife, and the sustainability of OHV use on secondary and tertiary road networks. Conflicts...
Publications of the Volcano Hazards Program 2011
Manuel Nathenson
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1164
The Volcano Hazards Program of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is part of the Geologic Hazards Assessments subactivity, as funded by Congressional appropriation. Investigations are carried out by the USGS and with cooperators at the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, University of...
Parasitic infection by larval helminths in Antarctic fishes: pathological changes and impact on the host body condition index
Mario Santoro, Simonetta Mattiucci, Thierry M. Work, Roberta Cimmaruta, Valentina Nardi, Paolo Cipriani, Bruno Bellisario, Giuseppe Nascetti
2013, Diseases of Aquatic Organisms (105) 139-148
We examined pathological changes and relationship between body condition index (BCI) and parasitic infection in 5 species of fish, including 42 icefish Chionodraco hamatus (Channichtyidae), 2 dragonfish Cygnodraco mawsoni (Bathydraconidae), 30 emerald rock cod Trematomus bernacchii, 46 striped rock cod T. hansoni and 9 dusty rock cod T. newnesi (Nototheniidae)...
Introduction to the fifth Mars Polar Science special issue: key questions, needed observations, and recommended investigations
Stephen M. Clifford, Kenji Yoshikawa, Shane Byrne, William Durham, David Fisher, Francois Forget, Michael Hecht, Peter Smith, Leslie Tamppari, Timothy Titus, Richard Zurek
2013, Icarus (225) 864-868
The Fifth International Conference on Mars Polar Science and Exploration – which was held from September 12–16, 2011, at the Pike’s Waterfront Lodge in Fairbanks, Alaska – is the latest in a continuing series of meetings that are intended to promote the exchange of knowledge and ideas between planetary and...
Dynamics of mangrove-marsh ecotones in subtropical coastal wetlands: fire, sea-level rise, and water levels
Thomas J. Smith III, Ann M. Foster, Ginger Tiling-Range, John Jones
2013, Fire Ecology (9) 66-77
Ecotones are areas of sharp environmental gradients between two or more homogeneous vegetation types. They are a dynamic aspect of all landscapes and are also responsive to climate change. Shifts in the position of an ecotone across a landscape can be an indication of a changing environment. In the coastal...
EAARL coastal topography and imagery–Western Louisiana, post-Hurricane Rita, 2005: First surface
Jamie M. Bonisteel-Cormier, Wayne C. Wright, Xan Fredericks, Emily S. Klipp, Doug B. Nagle, Asbury H. Sallenger Jr., John Brock
2013, Data Series 720
These remotely sensed, geographically referenced color-infrared (CIR) imagery and elevation measurements of lidar-derived first-surface (FS) topography datasets were produced by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, St. Petersburg, Florida, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia. This project...
Thermokarst and thaw-related landscape dynamics -- an annotated bibliography with an emphasis on potential effects on habitat and wildlife
Benjamin M. Jones, Courtney L. Amundson, Joshua C. Koch, Guido Grosse
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1161
Permafrost has warmed throughout much of the Northern Hemisphere since the 1980s, with colder permafrost sites warming more rapidly (Romanovsky and others, 2010; Smith and others, 2010). Warming of the near-surface permafrost may lead to widespread terrain instability in ice-rich permafrost in the Arctic and the Subarctic, and may result...
Quality-assurance plan for groundwater activities, U.S. Geological Survey, Washington Water Science Center
Mark D. Kozar, Sue C. Kahle
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1151
This report documents the standard procedures, policies, and field methods used by the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) Washington Water Science Center staff for activities related to the collection, processing, analysis, storage, and publication of groundwater data. This groundwater quality-assurance plan changes through time to accommodate new methods and requirements developed...
Reconnaissance geologic map of the Kuskokwim Bay region, southwest Alaska
Frederic H. Wilson, Chad P. Hults, Solmaz Mohadjer, Warren L. Coonrad
2013, Scientific Investigations Map 3100
The rocks of the map area range from Proterozoic age metamorphic rocks of the Kanektok metamorphic complex (Kilbuck terrane) to Quaternary age mafic volcanic rocks of Nunivak Island. The map area encompasses much of the type area of the Togiak-Tikchik Complex. The geologic maps used to construct this compilation were,...
Molecular detection and genotyping of Japanese Encephalitis Virus in mosquitoes during a 2010 outbreak in the Republic of Korea
Hyun-Ji Seo, Heung Chul Kim, Terry A. Klein, Andrew M. Ramey, Ji-Hyee Lee, Soon-Goo Kyung, Jee-Yong Park, In-Soo Cho, Jung-Yong Yeh
2013, PLoS ONE (8)
Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), a mosquito-borne zoonotic pathogen, is one of the major causes of viral encephalitis. To reduce the impact of Japanese encephalitis among children in the Republic of Korea (ROK), the government established a mandatory vaccination program in 1967. Through the efforts of this program only 0-7 (mean...
