Historical rock falls in Yosemite National Park, California (1857-2011)
Greg M. Stock, Brian D. Collins, David J. Santaniello, Valerie L. Zimmer, Gerald F. Wieczorek, James B. Snyder
2013, Data Series 746
Inventories of rock falls and other types of landslides are valuable tools for improving understanding of these events. For example, detailed information on rock falls is critical for identifying mechanisms that trigger rock falls, for quantifying the susceptibility of different cliffs to rock falls, and for developing magnitude-frequency relations. Further,...
Methods and results of peak-flow frequency analyses for streamgages in and bordering Minnesota, through water year 2011
Erich W. Kessler, David L. Lorenz, Christopher A. Sanocki
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5110
Peak-flow frequency analyses were completed for 409 streamgages in and bordering Minnesota having at least 10 systematic peak flows through water year 2011. Selected annual exceedance probabilities were determined by fitting a log-Pearson type III probability distribution to the recorded annual peak flows. A detailed explanation of the methods that...
Development of a Fluvial Egg Drift Simulator to evaluate the transport and dispersion of Asian carp eggs in rivers
Tatiana Garcia, P. Ryan Jackson, Elizabeth A. Murphy, Albert J. Valocchi, Marcelo H. Garcia
2013, Ecological Modelling (263) 211-222
Asian carp are migrating towards the Great Lakes and are threatening to invade this ecosystem, hence there is an immediate need to control their population. The transport of Asian carp eggs in potential spawning rivers is an important factor in its life history and recruitment success. An understanding of the...
An analysis of potential water availability from the Atwood, Leesville, and Tappan Lakes in the Muskingum River Watershed, Ohio
G. F. Koltun
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5112
This report presents the results of a study to assess potential water availability from the Atwood, Leesville, and Tappan Lakes, located within the Muskingum River Watershed, Ohio. The assessment was based on the criterion that water withdrawals should not appreciably affect maintenance of recreation-season pool levels in current use. To...
Geologic map of the east half of the Lime Hills 1:250,000-scale quadrangle, Alaska
Bruce M. Gamble, Bruce L. Reed, Donald H. Richter, Marvin A. Lanphere
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1090
This map is compiled from geologic mapping conducted between 1985 and 1992 by the U.S. Geological Survey as part of the Alaska Mineral Resource Assessment Program. That mapping built upon previous USGS work (1963–1988) unraveling the magmatic history of the Alaska–Aleutian Range batholith. Quaternary unit contacts depicted on this map...
Comparison between two statistically based methods, and two physically based models developed to compute daily mean streamflow at ungaged locations in the Cedar River Basin, Iowa
S. Mike Linhart, Jon F. Nania, Daniel E. Christiansen, Kasey J. Hutchinson, Curtis L. Sanders Jr., Stacey A. Archfield
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5111
A variety of individuals from water resource managers to recreational users need streamflow information for planning and decisionmaking at locations where there are no streamgages. To address this problem, two statistically based methods, the Flow Duration Curve Transfer method and the Flow Anywhere method, were developed for statewide application and...
Determination of diffusion coefficients of carbon dioxide in water between 268 and 473 K in a high-pressure capillary optical cell with in situ Raman spectroscopic measurements
Wanjun Lu, Huirong Guo, I.-M. Chou, R.C. Burruss, Lanlan Li
2013, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (115) 183-204
Accurate values of diffusion coefficients for carbon dioxide in water and brine at reservoir conditions are essential to our understanding of transport behavior of carbon dioxide in subsurface pore space. However, the experimental data are limited to conditions at low temperatures and pressures. In this study, diffusive transfer of carbon...
Vegetation map of the watersheds between Kawela and Kamalō Gulches, Island of Molokaʻi, Hawaiʻi
James D. Jacobi, Stephen Ambagis
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5093
In this document we describe the methods and results of a project to produce a large-scale map of the dominant plant communities for an area of 5,118.5 hectares encompassing the Kawela and Kamalō watersheds on the island of Molokaʻi, Hawaiʻi, using digital image analysis of multi-spectral satellite imagery. Besides providing...
Ice-age megafauna in Arctic Alaska: extinction, invasion, survival
Daniel H. Mann, Pamela Groves, Michael L. Kunz, Richard E. Reanier, Benjamin V. Gaglioti
2013, Quaternary Science Reviews (70) 91-108
Radical restructuring of the terrestrial, large mammal fauna living in arctic Alaska occurred between 14,000 and 10,000 years ago at the end of the last ice age. Steppe bison, horse, and woolly mammoth became extinct, moose and humans invaded, while muskox and caribou persisted. The ice age megafauna was more...
Interactions between invasive round gobies (Neogobius melanostomous) and fantail darters (Etheostoma flabellare) in a tributary of the St. Lawrence River, New York, USA
Ross Abbett, Emily M. Waldt, James H. Johnson, James E. McKenna Jr., Dawn E. Dittman
2013, Journal of Freshwater Ecology (28) 529-537
The initial, rapid expansion of the invasive round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) throughout the Great Lakes drainage was largely confined to lentic systems. We recently observed round gobies ascending two tributaries of the St. Lawrence River. The expansion of gobies into small lotic environments may place ecologically similar species at risk....
Evaluation of groundwater quality and selected hydrologic conditions in the South Coast aquifer, Santa Isabel area, Puerto Rico, 2008–09
José M. Rodríguez
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5254
The source of drinking water in the Santa Isabel and Coamo areas of Puerto Rico (Molina and Gómez-Gómez, 2008) is the South Coast aquifer (hereafter referred to as the aquifer), which supplies about 30,700 cubic meters per day (m³/d) to Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA) public-supply wells. In...
Predicting ecosystem stability from community composition and biodiversity
Claire de Mazancourt, Forest Isbell, Allen Larocque, Frank Berendse, Enrica De Luca, James B. Grace, Bart Haegeman, H. Wayne Polley, Christiane Roscher, Bernhard Schmid, David Tilman, Jasper van Ruijven, Alexandra Weigelt, Brian J. Wilsey, Michel Loreau
2013, Ecology Letters (16) 617-625
As biodiversity is declining at an unprecedented rate, an important current scientific challenge is to understand and predict the consequences of biodiversity loss. Here, we develop a theory that predicts the temporal variability of community biomass from the properties of individual component species in monoculture. Our theory shows that biodiversity...
Water-quality characteristics, trends, and nutrient and sediment loads of streams in the Treyburn development area, North Carolina, 1988–2009
Jason M. Fine, Douglas A. Harned, Carolyn J. Oblinger
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5062
Streamflow and water-quality data, including concentrations of nutrients, metals, and pesticides, were collected from October 1988 through September 2009 at six sites in the Treyburn development study area. A review of water-quality data for streams in and near a 5,400-acre planned, mixed-use development in the Falls Lake watershed in the...
Hydrogeologic framework, arsenic distribution, and groundwater geochemistry of the glacial-sediment aquifer at the Auburn Road landfill superfund site, Londonderry, New Hampshire
James R. Degnan, Philip T. Harte
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5123
Leachate continues to be generated from landfills at the Auburn Road Landfill Superfund Site in Londonderry, New Hampshire. Impermeable caps on the three landfills at the site inhibit direct infiltration of precipitation; however, high water-table conditions allow groundwater to interact with landfill materials from below, creating leachate and ultimately reducing...
Modeled future peak streamflows in four coastal Maine rivers
Glenn A. Hodgkins, Robert W. Dudley
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5080
To safely and economically design bridges and culverts, it is necessary to compute the magnitude of peak streamflows that have specified annual exceedance probabilities (AEPs). Annual precipitation and air temperature in the northeastern United States are, in general, projected to increase during the 21st century. It is therefore important for...
Coupled hydrogeomorphic and woody-seedling responses to controlled flood releases in a dryland river
Andrew C. Wilcox, Patrick B. Shafroth
2013, Water Resources Research (49) 2843-2860
Interactions among flow, geomorphic processes, and riparian vegetation can strongly influence both channel form and vegetation communities. To investigate such interactions, we took advantage of a series of dam-managed flood releases that were designed in part to maintain a native riparian woodland system on a sand-bed, dryland river, the Bill...
Modeled future peak streamflows in four coastal Maine rivers
Glenn A. Hodgkins, Robert W. Dudley
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3021
To safely and economically design bridges and culverts, it is necessary to compute the magnitude of peak streamflows that have specified annual exceedance probabilities (AEPs). These peak flows are also needed for effective floodplain management. Annual precipitation and air temperature in the northeastern United States are in general projected to...
Selective predation by feral cats on a native skink on Guam
Björn Lardner, Robert N. Reed, Amy A. Yackel Adams, M.J. Mazurek, Thomas J. Hinkle, Patricia M. Levasseur, Meredith S. Palmer, Julie A. Savidge
2013, Reptiles & Amphibians (20) 16-19
Two species of skinks (Fig. 1) occur in a 5-ha plot on Guam where we have been conducting intensive research on Brown Treesnake (Boiga irregularis) population biology for nearly a decade (Rodda et al. 2007). The Pacific Blue-tailed Skink (Emoia caeruleocauda [de Vis 1892]) is native to Guam, whereas the...
Anatomy of La Jolla submarine canyon system; offshore southern California
C. K. Paull, D.W. Caress, E. Lundsten, R. Gwiazda, K. Anderson, M. McGann, J. Conrad, B. Edwards, E.J. Sumner
2013, Marine Geology (335) 16-34
An autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) carrying a multibeam sonar and a chirp profiler was used to map sections of the seafloor within the La Jolla Canyon, offshore southern California, at sub-meter scales. Close-up observations and sampling were conducted during remotely operated vehicle (ROV) dives. Minisparker seismic-reflection profiles from a surface...
Geologic map of southwestern Sequoia National Park, Tulare County, California
Thomas W. Sisson, James G. Moore
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1096
This map shows the geology of 675 km2 (260 mi2) on the west slope of the Sierra Nevada, California, mainly in Sequoia National Park and Sequoia National Forest. It was produced by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) at the request of the National Park Service to complete the geologic map...
How runoff begins (and ends): characterizing hydrologic response at the catchment scale
Benjamin B. Mirus, Keith Loague
2013, Water Resources Research (49) 2987-3006
Improved understanding of the complex dynamics associated with spatially and temporally variable runoff response is needed to better understand the hydrology component of interdisciplinary problems. The objective of this study was to quantitatively characterize the environmental controls on runoff generation for the range of different streamflow-generation mechanisms illustrated in the...
2010 Joint United States-Canadian Program to explore the limits of the Extended Continental Shelf aboard U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy--Cruise HLY1002
Brian D. Edwards, Jonathan R. Childs, Peter J. Triezenberg, William W. Danforth, Helen Gibbons
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1067
In August and September 2010, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Natural Resources Canada, Geological Survey of Canada, conducted bathymetric and geophysical surveys in the Beaufort Sea and eastern Arctic Ocean aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy. The principal objective of this mission to the high Arctic was...
The occurrence of the rat lungworm, Angiostrongylus cantonensis, in nonindigenous snails in the Gulf of Mexico region of the United States
John L. Teem, Yvonne Qvarnstrom, Henry S. Bishop, Alexandre J. da Silva, Jacoby Carter, Jodi White-McLean, Trevor Smith
2013, Hawai'i Journal of Medicine & Public Health (72) 11-14
Nonindigenous apple snails, Pomacea maculata (formerly Pomacea insularum), are currently spreading rapidly through the southeastern United States. This mollusk serves as an intermediate host of the rat lungworm parasite (Angiostrongylus cantonensis), which can cause eosinophilic meningitis in humans who consume infected mollusks. A PCR-based detection assay was used to test...
Microbial community composition and endolith colonization at an Arctic thermal spring are driven by calcite precipitation
Verena Starke, Julie Kirshtein, Marilyn L. Fogel, Andrew Steele
2013, Environmental Microbiology Reports (5) 648-659
Environmental conditions shape community composition. Arctic thermal springs provide an opportunity to study how environmental gradients can impose strong selective pressures on microbial communities and provide a continuum of niche opportunities. We use microscopic and molecular methods to conduct a survey of microbial community composition at Troll Springs on Svalbard,...
Climate change winners: receding ice fields facilitate colony expansion and altered dynamics in an Adélie penguin metapopulation
Michelle A. LaRue, David G. Ainley, Matt Swanson, Katie M. Dugger, Phil O’B. Lyber, Kerry Barton, Grant Ballard
2013, PLoS ONE (8)
There will be winners and losers as climate change alters the habitats of polar organisms. For an Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) colony on Beaufort Island (Beaufort), part of a cluster of colonies in the southern Ross Sea, we report a recent population increase in response to increased nesting habitat as...
