Correlation of geothermal springs with sub-surface fault terminations revealed by high-resolution, UAV-acquired magnetic data
Jonathan M.G. Glen, A.E. Egger, C. Ippolito, N.Athens
2013, Conference Paper, Proceedings Thirty-eighth Workshop on Geothermal Reservoir Engineering
There is widespread agreement that geothermal springs in extensional geothermal systems are concentrated at fault tips and in fault interaction zones where porosity and permeability are dynamically maintained (Curewitz and Karson, 1997; Faulds et al., 2010). Making these spatial correlations typically involves geological and geophysical studies in order to map...
Hyperspectral surface materials map of quadrangle 3562, Khawja-Jir (403) and Murghab (404) quadrangles, Afghanistan, showing iron-bearing minerals and other materials
Trude King, Todd M. Hoefen, Raymond F. Kokaly, Keith E. Livo, Michaela R. Johnson, Stuart A. Giles
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1202-B
This map shows the spatial distribution of selected iron-bearing minerals and other materials derived from analysis of airborne HyMap™ imaging spectrometer (hyperspectral) data of Afghanistan collected in late 2007. This map is one in a series of U.S. Geological Survey/Afghanistan Geological Survey quadrangle maps covering Afghanistan. Flown at an altitude of...
Fens as whole-ecosystem gauges of groundwater recharge under climate change
Judith Z. Drexler, Donna L. Knifong, JayLee Tuil, Lorraine E. Flint, Alan L. Flint
2013, Journal of Hydrology (481) 22-34
Currently, little is known about the impact of climate change on groundwater recharge in the Sierra Nevada and southern Cascade Range of California or other mountainous regions of the world. The purpose of this study was to determine whether small alpine peat lands called fens can be used as whole-ecosystem...
Nitrate in watersheds: straight from soils to streams?
Elizabeth B. Sudduth, Steven S. Perakis, Emily S. Bernhardt
2013, Journal of Geophysical Research G: Biogeosciences (118) 291-302
Human activities are rapidly increasing the global supply of reactive N and substantially altering the structure and hydrologic connectivity of managed ecosystems. There is long-standing recognition that N must be removed along hydrologic flowpaths from uplands to streams, yet it has proven difficult to assess the generality of this removal...
Adjusting survival estimates for premature transmitter failure: A case study from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
Christopher M. Holbrook, Russell W. Perry, Patricia L. Brandes, Noah S. Adams
2013, Environmental Biology of Fishes (96) 165-173
In telemetry studies, premature tag failure causes negative bias in fish survival estimates because tag failure is interpreted as fish mortality. We used mark-recapture modeling to adjust estimates of fish survival for a previous study where premature tag failure was documented. High rates of tag failure occurred during the Vernalis...
Water quality in the Anacostia River, Maryland and Rock Creek, Washington, D.C.: Continuous and discrete monitoring with simulations to estimate concentrations and yields of nutrients, suspended sediment, and bacteria
Cherie V. Miller, Jeffrey G. Chanat, Joseph M. Bell
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1034
Concentrations and loading estimates for nutrients, suspended sediment, and E. coli bacteria were summarized for three water-quality monitoring stations on the Anacostia River in Maryland and one station on Rock Creek in Washington, D.C. Both streams are tributaries to the Potomac River in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and contribute...
An ecohydraulic model to identify and monitor moapa dace habitat
James R. Hatten, Thomas R. Batt, Gayton G. Scoppettone, Christopher J. Dixon
2013, PLoS ONE (8)
Moapa dace (Moapa coriacea) is a critically endangered thermophilic minnow native to the Muddy River ecosystem in southeastern Nevada, USA. Restricted to temperatures between 26.0 and 32.0°C, these fish are constrained to the upper two km of the Muddy River and several small tributaries fed by warm springs. Habitat alterations,...
Potential effects of changes in temperature and food resources on life history trajectories of juvenile Oncorhynchus mykiss
Joseph R. Benjamin, Patrick J. Connolly, Jason G. Romine, Russell W. Perry
2013, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (142) 208-220
Increasing temperatures and changes in food resources owing to climate change may alter the growth and migratory behavior of organisms. This is particularly important for salmonid species like Oncorhynchus mykiss, where some individuals remain in freshwater to mature (nonanadromous Rainbow Trout) and others migrate to sea (anadromous Steelhead). Whether one...
Site preparation for switchgrass intercropping in loblolly pine plantations reduces retained trees and snags, but maintains downed woody debris
Zachary G. Loman, Samuel K. Riffell, Darrin A. Miller, James A. Martin, Francisco Vilella
2013, Forestry (86) 353-360
Within young pine (Pinus spp.) plantations, coarse woody debris (CWD) and green trees are important habitat structures that may be impacted by the production of biofuel feedstock. Therefore, we compared site preparation procedures associated with switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) intercropping to determine effects on CWD and green trees in stands...
A conceptual prototype for the next-generation national elevation dataset
Jason M. Stoker, Hans Karl Heidemann, Gayla A. Evans, Susan K. Greenlee
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1023
In 2012 the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) National Geospatial Program (NGP) funded a study to develop a conceptual prototype for a new National Elevation Dataset (NED) design with expanded capabilities to generate and deliver a suite of bare earth and above ground feature information over the United States. This report...
Disease in a dynamic landscape: host behavior and wildfire reduce amphibian chytrid infection
Blake R. Hossack, Winsor H. Lowe, Joy L. Ware, Paul Stephen Corn
2013, Biological Conservation (157) 293-299
Disturbances are often expected to magnify effects of disease, but these effects may depend on the ecology, behavior, and life history of both hosts and pathogens. In many ecosystems, wildfire is the dominant natural disturbance and thus could directly or indirectly affect dynamics of many diseases. To determine how probability...
Comparison of filters for concentrating microbial indicators and pathogens in lake-water samples
Donna S. Francy, Erin A. Stelzer, Amie M. G. Brady, Carrie Huitger, Rebecca N. Bushon, S. Ip, Michael W. Ware, Eric N. Villegas, Vincent Gallardo, H.D. Alan Lindquist
2013, Applied and Environmental Microbiology (79) 1342-1352
Bacterial indicators are used to indicate increased health risk from pathogens and to make beach closure and advisory decisions; however, beaches are seldom monitored for the pathogens themselves. Studies of sources and types of pathogens at beaches are needed to improve estimates of swimming-associated health risks. It would be advantageous...
Using hand proportions to test taxonomic boundaries within the Tupaia glis species complex (Scandentia, Tupaiidae)
Eric J. Sargos, Neal Woodman, Aspen T. Reese, Link E. Olson
2013, Journal of Mammalogy (94) 183-201
Treeshrews (order Scandentia) comprise 2 families of squirrel-sized terrestrial, arboreal, and scansorial mammals distributed throughout much of tropical South and Southeast Asia. The last comprehensive taxonomic revision of treeshrews was published in 1913, and a well-supported phylogeny clarifying relationships among all currently recognized extant species within the order has only...
Predictive models for Escherichia coli concentrations at inland lake beaches and relationship of model variables to pathogen detection
Donna S. Francy, Erin A. Stelzer, Joseph W. Duris, Amie M. G. Brady, John H. Harrison, Heather E. Johnson, Michael W. Ware
2013, Applied and Environmental Microbiology (79) 1676-1688
Predictive models, based on environmental and water quality variables, have been used to improve the timeliness and accuracy of recreational water quality assessments, but their effectiveness has not been studied in inland waters. Sampling at eight inland recreational lakes in Ohio was done in order to investigate using predictive models...
Assessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources of North Africa, 2012
Christopher J. Schenk, Timothy R. Klett, Katherine J. Whidden, Mark A. Kirschbaum, Ronald R. Charpentier, Troy A. Cook, Michael E. Brownfield, Janet K. Pitman
2013, Fact Sheet 2012-3147
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated means of 19 billion barrels of technically recoverable undiscovered conventional oil and 370 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered conventional natural gas resources in 8 geologic provinces of North Africa....
Community exposure to tsunami hazards in California
Nathan J. Wood, Jamie Ratliff, Jeff Peters
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5222
Evidence of past events and modeling of potential events suggest that tsunamis are significant threats to low-lying communities on the California coast. To reduce potential impacts of future tsunamis, officials need to understand how communities are vulnerable to tsunamis and where targeted outreach, preparedness, and mitigation efforts may be warranted....
Distribution of invasive ants and methods for their control in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park
Robert W. Peck, Paul C. Banko, Kirsten Snook, Melody Euaparadorn
2013, Technical Report HCSU-040
The first invasive ants were detected in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park (HAVO) more than 80 years ago. Ecological impacts of these ants are largely unknown, but studies in Hawai`i and elsewhere increasingly show that invasive ants can reduce abundance and diversity of native arthropod communities...
Development of flood profiles and flood-inundation maps for the Village of Killbuck, Ohio
Chad J. Ostheimer
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1032
Digital flood-inundation maps for a reach of Killbuck Creek near the Village of Killbuck, Ohio, were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with Holmes County, Ohio. The inundation maps depict estimates of the areal extent of flooding corresponding to water levels (stages) at the USGS streamgage Killbuck...
Where fast weathering creates thin regolith and slow weathering creates thick regolith
Ekaterina Bazilevskaya, Marina Lebedeva, Milan J. Pavich, Susan L. Brantley, Gernot Rother, Dilworth Y. Parkinson, David Cole
2013, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 847-858
Weathering disaggregates rock into regolith – the fractured or granular earth material that sustains life on the continental land surface. Here, we investigate what controls the depth of regolith formed on ridges of two rock compositions with similar initial porosities in Virginia (USA). A priori, we predicted that the regolith...
Potential for recovery of cerium contained in automotive catalytic converters
Donald I. Bleiwas
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1037
Catalytic converters (CATCONs) are required by Federal law to be installed in nearly all gasoline- and diesel-fueled onroad vehicles used in the United States. About 85 percent of the light-duty vehicles and trucks manufactured worldwide are equipped with CATCONs. Portions of the CATCONs (called monoliths) are recycled for their platinum-group...
Hydrogeologic framework and estimates of groundwater storage for the Hualapai Valley, Detrital Valley, and Sacramento Valley basins, Mohave County, Arizona
Margot Truini, L. Sue Beard, Jeffrey Kennedy, Dave W. Anning
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5275
We have investigated the hydrogeology of the Hualapai Valley, Detrital Valley, and Sacramento Valley basins of Mohave County in northwestern Arizona to develop a better understanding of groundwater storage within the basin fill aquifers. In our investigation we used geologic maps, well-log data, and geophysical surveys to delineate the sedimentary...
Conservation and Ecology of Marine Forage Fishes--Proceedings of a Research Symposium, September 2012
Theresa Liedtke, Caroline Gibson, Dayv Lowry, Duane Fagergren
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1035
Locally and globally, there is growing recognition of the critical roles that herring, smelt, sand lance, eulachon, and other forage fishes play in marine ecosystems. Scientific and resource management entities throughout the Salish Sea, agree that extensive information gaps exist, both in basic biological knowledge and parameters critical to fishery...
Drought and deluge: Effects of recent climate variability on groundwater levels in eastern Arkansas
John B. Czarnecki, T.P. Schrader
2013, Fact Sheet 2012-3135
Arkansas experienced wide extremes in climate variability during the period of 2005 to 2010, recording the largest annual precipitation ever recorded in the State (100.05 inches) in 2009. Many weather stations across the State reported between 80 to 90 inches of rainfall in 2009. For comparison, the average annual precipitation...
Effects of recent climate variability on groundwater levels in eastern Arkansas
John B. Czarnecki, T.P. Schrader
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5258
Water-level fluctuations in wells completed in the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer in eastern Arkansas were compared to variability in annual precipitation, an indicator of climate variability. The wettest year on record in Little Rock, Arkansas, occurred in 2009 with 81.79 inches of precipitation compared to an average of 47.1...
Groundwater resources of the Wood River Valley, Idaho--A groundwater-flow model for resource management
James Bartolino, Sean Vincent
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3005
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in collaboration with the Idaho Department of Water Resources (IDWR), will use the current understanding of the Wood River Valley aquifer system to construct a MODFLOW numerical groundwater-flow model to simulate potential anthropogenic and climatic effects on groundwater and surface-water resources. This model will serve...
