Water-quality monitoring of the Merrimack River watershed in Massachusetts
Kaitlin Laabs, Natalie L. Roth, Laura K. Yates
2022, General Information Product 216
The U.S. Geological Survey has been working in collaboration with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection on a project to collect water-quality data from the Merrimack River watershed since April 2020. Twelve locations in the Merrimack River watershed are being sampled for nutrients (such as nitrogen), metals (such as aluminum),...
Probing the upper end of intracontinental earthquake magnitude: A prehistoric example from the Dzhungarian and Lepsy faults of Kazakhstan
Chia-Hsin Tsai, Kanatbek Abdrakhmatov, Aidyn Mukambayev, Austin John Elliott, John R. Elliott, Christoph Grützner, Edward J. Rhodes, A. H. Ivester, R. T. Walker, Roberta Wilkinson
2022, Tectonics (41)
The study of surface ruptures is key to understanding the earthquake occurrence of faults especially in the absence of historical events. We present a detailed analysis of geomorphic displacements along the Dzhungarian Fault, which straddles the border of China and Kazakhstan. We use digital elevation models derived from structure-from-motion analysis...
Report of the River Master of the Delaware River for the period December 1, 2012–November 30, 2013
Vincent J. DiFrenna, William J. Andrews, Kendra L. Russell, J. Michael Norris, Robert R. Mason, Jr.
2022, Open-File Report 2022-1068
A Decree of the Supreme Court of the United States, entered June 7, 1954, established the position of Delaware River Master within the U.S. Geological Survey. In addition, the Decree authorizes diversion of water from the Delaware River Basin and requires compensating releases from certain reservoirs, owned by New York...
Review of harmful algal blooms effects on birds with implications for avian wildlife in the Chesapeake Bay region
Barnett A. Rattner, Catherine E. Wazniak, Julia S. Lankton, Peter C. McGowan, Serguei Vyacheslavovich Drovetski, Todd A. Egerton
2022, Harmful Algae (120)
The Chesapeake Bay, along the mid-Atlantic coast of North America, is the largest estuary in the United States and provides critical habitat for wildlife. In contrast to point and non-point source release of pesticides, metals, and industrial, personal care and household use chemicals on biota in this watershed, there has...
Largest recent impact craters on Mars: Orbital imaging and surface seismic co-investigation
Lilia Posiolova, P Lognonne, W B Banerdt, John Clinton, Gareth S Collins, Taichi Kawamura, S Ceylan, Ingrid J. Daubar, B Fernando, M Froment, D Giardini, Michael C. Malin, Katarina Miljkovic, Simon C Stahler, Z. Xue, Maria E Banks, E Beucler, Bruce A Cantor, C. Charalambous, N Dahmen, Paul W. Davis, Cesar M. Duran, M. Drilleau, Colin M. Dundas, F Euchner, R F Garcia, Matthew P. Golombek, Anna Horleston, C Keegan, Abdul S. Khan, D. Kim, C Larmat, Ralph D. Lorenz, L Margerin, S Menina, Mark Panning, C Pardo, C Perrin, W T Pike, M Plasman, A Rajsic, Lucie Rolland, E Rougier, Gunnar Speth, Aymeric Spiga, Alexander E. Stott, David Susko, N Teanby, A Valeh, A. Werynski, N Wojcicka, G Zenhausern
2022, Science (378) 412-417
Two 130+ meter diameter impact craters formed on Mars during the later half of 2021. These are the two largest fresh impact craters discovered by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter since operations started 16 years ago. The impacts created two of the largest seismic events (magnitudes greater than 4) recorded by...
Level and pattern of overstory retention shape the abundance and long-term dynamics of natural and created snags
Charles B. Halpern, Allison K. Rossman, Joan Hagar
2022, Forest Ecology and Management (526)
Standing dead trees, or snags, serve myriad functions in natural forests, but are often scarce in forests managed for timber production. Variable retention (VR), the retention of live and dead trees through harvest, has been adopted globally as a less intensive...
Demographic and environmental correlates of home ranges and long-distance movements of Mohave ground squirrels
Sharon Poessel, Philip Leitner, Rich Inman, Todd C. Esque, Todd E. Katzner
2022, Journal of Mammalogy
Space use by mammals can differ among age-classes, sexes, or seasons, and these processes are recognized as adaptive behavioral strategies. Semi-fossorial ground squirrels, in particular, have shown age- and sex-specific patterns in their aboveground movement behaviors. We studied space use of Mohave ground squirrels (Xerospermophilus mohavensis) at the Freeman Gulch...
A serological survey of Francisella tularensis exposure in wildlife on the Arctic Coastal Plain of Alaska
Matthew M. Smith, Caroline R. Van Hemert, Todd C. Atwood, David R. Sinnett, Jerry W. Hupp, Brandt W Meixell, David D. Gustine, Layne G. Adams, Andrew M. Ramey
2022, Journal of Wildlife Diseases (58) 746-755
Tularemia is an infectious zoonotic disease caused by one of several subspecies of Francisella tularensis bacteria. Infections by F. tularensis are common throughout the northern hemisphere and have been detected in more than 250 wildlife species. In Alaska, US, where the pathogen was first identified in 1938, studies...
Diet composition and overlap of larval pallid sturgeon and shovelnose sturgeon from the upper Missouri River, USA
Colt Taylor Holley, Patrick Braaten, Barry Poulton, Edward J. Heist, Levi Umland, Tyler M. Haddix
2022, Endangered Species Research (49) 103-114
Early life stages of pallid sturgeon Scaphirhynchus albus are rarely collected, and thus information on their biology and ecology is extremely limited. We sampled 75 larval pallid sturgeon (25-110 mm) and 148 larval shovelnose sturgeon S. platorynchus (15-95 mm) by trawl from the upper Missouri River (USA) in 2019. Stomach contents were identified...
Getting ahead of flash drought: From early warning to early action
Jason Otkin, Molly Woloszyn, Hailan Wang, Mark Svoboda, Marina Skumanich, Roger Pulwarty, Joel Lisonbee, Andrew Hoell, Mike Hobbins, Tonya Haigh, Amanda E. Cravens
2022, Bulletin of American Meteorological Society (BAMS) (103) E2188-E2202
Flash droughts, characterized by their unusually rapid intensification, have garnered increasing attention within the weather, climate, agriculture, and ecological communities in recent years due to their large environmental and socioeconomic impacts. Because flash droughts intensify...
Industrial particulate pollution and historical land use contribute metals of concern to dust deposited in neighborhoods along the Wasatch Front, UT, USA
Annie L. Putman, Daniel Jones, Molly Ann Blakowski, Destry N DiViesti, Scott Hynek, Diego P. Fernandez, Danielle Mendoza
2022, GeoHealth (6)
The Salt Lake Valley, UT, USA, is proximal to the desiccating Great Salt Lake (GSL). Prior work has found that this lakebed/playa contributes metals-laden dust to snow in the Wasatch and Uinta Mountains. Dust and industrial particulate pollution are also delivered to communities along the Wasatch Front,...
Using active source seismology to image the Palos Verdes Fault damage zone as a function of distance, depth, and geology
Travis Alongi, Emily Brodsky, Jared W. Kluesner, Daniel S. Brothers
2022, Earth and Planetary Science Letters (600)
Fault damage zones provide a window into the non-elastic processes of an earthquake. Geological and seismic tomography methods have been unable to measure damage zones at depth with sufficient spatial sampling to evaluate the relative influence of depth, distance, and lithological variations. Here, we...
Use of high-resolution topobathymetry to assess shoreline topography and potential future development of a slack water harbor near Dardanelle, Arkansas, October 2021
Richard J. Huizinga, Joseph M. Richards, Benjamin C. Rivers
2022, Scientific Investigations Map 3494
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Southwestern Division, Little Rock District Civil Works program has a mission to maintain cohesion between physical and naturally developed environments. The USACE authorized the development of an off-channel harbor (hereinafter referred to as the “proposed slack water harbor”) along the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River...
Predictions and drivers of sub-reach-scale annual streamflow permanence for the upper Missouri River basin: 1989-2018
Roy Sando, Kristin Jaeger, William H. Farmer, Theodore B. Barnhart, Ryan R. McShane, Toby L. Welborn, Kendra E. Kaiser, Konrad Hafen, Kyle W. Blasch, Benjamin C. York, Alden Shallcross
2022, Journal of Hydrology X (17)
The presence of year-round surface water in streams (i.e., streamflow permanence) is an important factor for identifying aquatic habitat availability, determining the regulatory status of streams, managing land use change, allocating water resources, and designing scientific studies. However, accurate, high resolution, and dynamic prediction of streamflow permanence that accounts for...
Autumn precipitation: The competition with Santa Ana winds in determining fire outcomes in southern California
Daniel R. Cayan, Laurel DeHaan, Alexander Gershunov, Janin Guzman-Morales, Jon Keeley, Joshua Mumford, Alexandra D. Syphard
2022, International Journal of Wildland Fire (31) 1056-1067
Background: California’s South Coast has experienced peak burned area in autumn. Following typically dry, warm summers, precipitation events and Santa Ana winds (SAWs) each occur with increasing frequency from autumn to winter and may affect fire outcomes.Aims: We investigate historical records to understand how these counteracting influences have affected fires.Methods: We defined autumn...
Actionable social science can guide community level wildfire solutions. An illustration from North Central Washington, US
Patricia A. Champ, Hannah Brenkert-Smith, Jonathan P Riley, James Meldrum, Colleen Donovan, Christopher M. Barth, Carolyn J Wagner
2022, International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction (82)
In this study we illustrate the value of social data compiled at the community scale to guide a local wildfire mitigation and education effort. The four contiguous fire-prone study communities in North Central Washington, US, fall within the same jurisdictional fire...
A multiscale approach for monitoring groundwater discharge to headwater streams by the U.S. Geological Survey Next Generation Water Observing System Program—An example from the Neversink Reservoir watershed, New York
Martin A. Briggs, Christopher L. Gazoorian, Daniel H. Doctor, Douglas A. Burns
2022, Fact Sheet 2022-3077
Groundwater-stream connectivity across mountain watersheds is critical for supporting streamflow during dry times and keeping streams cool during warm times, yet U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) stream measurements are often sparse in headwaters. Starting in 2019, the USGS Next Generation Water Observing System Program developed a multiscale methods and technology testbed...
Behavior of potentially toxic elements from stoker-boiler fly ash in Interior Alaska: Paired batch leaching and solid-phase characterization
Kyle P Milke, Kiana Mitchell, Sarah M. Hayes, Carlin J. Green, Jennifer Guerard
2022, Environmental Science and Pollution Research (29) 31059-31074
Despite significant investigation of fly ash spills and mineralogical controls on the release of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) from fly ash, interactions with the surficial environment remain relatively poorly understood. We conducted 90-day batch leaching studies with paired analysis of supernatant and solid-phase mineralogy to...
The first assessment of the genetic diversity and structure of the endangered West Indian manatee in Cuba
Anmari Alvarez-Aleman, Maggie Hunter, Thomas K. Frazer, James A. Powell, Eddy G. Alfonso, James D. Austin
2022, Genetica (150) 327-341
The coastal waters of Cuba are home to a small, endangered population of West Indian manatee, which would benefit from a comprehensive characterization of the population’s genetic variation. We conducted the first genetic assessment of Cuban manatees to determine the extent of the population's genetic structure...
Uncertainty of ICESat-2 ATL06- and ATL08-derived snow depths for glacierized and vegetated mountain regions
Ellyn Enderlin, Colten Elkin, Madeline Gendreau, H. P. Marshall, Shad O'Neel, Christopher J. McNeil, Caitlyn Florentine, Louis C. Sass
2022, Remote Sensing of Environment (283)
Seasonal snow melt dominates the hydrologic budget across a large portion of the globe. Snow accumulation and melt vary over a broad range of spatial scales, preventing accurate extrapolation of sparse in situ observations to watershed scales. The <a class="topic-link" title="Learn...
Higher temperature sensitivity of ecosystem respiration in low marsh compared to high elevation marsh ecosystems
Joanna C. Carey, Kevin D. Kroeger, Jianwu Tang
2022, Journal of Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences (127)
Salt marsh habitats contain some of the highest quantities of soil organic carbon (C) per unit area, but increasing anthropogenic stressors threaten their ability to maintain themselves as large C reservoirs in some regions. We quantify rates of C gas exchange (methane [CH4] and carbon dioxide [CO2])...
Lateral extent of pyroclastic surge deposits at Ubehebe Crater (Death Valley, CA) and implications for hazards in monogenetic volcanic fields
Gregory Valentine, Judith E. Fierstein, James D.L. White
2022, Geophysical Research Letters (49)
Hazard assessments in monogenetic volcanic fields require estimates of the runout of pyroclastic surges that result from phreatomagmatic explosive activity. Previous assessments used runout distances of 1-4 km, with large cases up to 6 km. Surge deposits at Ubehebe Crater (~2100 y.b.p., Death Valley, California) have been traced ~9 km from the crater...
Freaky phrag phenomenon: Witches' broom
Taaja Tucker
2022, Newsletter
No abstract available....
Quality of groundwater used for public supply in the continental United States: A comprehensive assessment
Kenneth Belitz, Miranda S. Fram, Bruce D. Lindsey, Paul Stackelberg, Laura M. Bexfield, Tyler D. Johnson, Bryant Jurgens, James A. Kingsbury, Peter B. McMahon, Neil M. Dubrovsky
2022, Environmental Science & Technology - Water (2) 2645-2656
The presence of contaminants in a source water can constrain its suitability for drinking. The quality of groundwater used for public supply was assessed in 25 principal aquifers (PAs) that account for 84% of groundwater pumped for public supply in the U.S. (89.6 million people on a proportional basis). Each...
Tectonics, fault zones, and topography in the Alaska-Canada Cordillera with a focus on the Alaska Range and Denali fault zone
Jonathan Caine, Jeff A. Benowitz
2022, Book chapter, Atlas of structural geological and geomorphological interpretation of remote sensing images
Synergistic interactions between geologic structures and topography have long been recognized to reflect numerous Earth processes and rock properties over time. It was not until the advent of plate tectonics in the midtwentieth century that researchers began to view the nature of the northern Cordillera orogen as a quilt of...
