Electron donor concentrations in sediments and sediment properties at the agricultural chemicals team research site near New Providence, Iowa, 2006-07
Bijesh Maharjan, Scott F. Korom, Erik A. Smith
2013, Data Series 737
The concentrations of electron donors in aquifer sediments are important to the understanding of the fate and transport of redox-sensitive constituents in groundwater, such as nitrate. For a study by the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment Program, 50 sediment samples were collected from below the water table from 11...
Impacts of climate, lake size, and supra- and sub-permafrost groundwater flow on lake-talik evolution, Yukon Flats, Alaska (USA)
Tristan Wellman, Clifford I. Voss, Michelle Ann Walvoord
2013, Hydrogeology Journal (21) 281-298
In cold regions, hydrologic systems possess seasonal and perennial ice-free zones (taliks) within areas of permafrost that control and are enhanced by groundwater flow. Simulation of talik development that follows lake formation in watersheds modeled after those in the Yukon Flats of interior Alaska (USA) provides insight on the coupled...
Controls on the deposition and preservation of the Cretaceous Mowry Shale and Frontier Formation and equivalents, Rocky Mountain region, Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming
Mark A. Kirschbaum, Tracey J. Mercier
2013, AAPG Bulletin (97) 899-921
Regional variations in thickness and facies of clastic sediments are controlled by geographic location within a foreland basin. Preservation of facies is dependent on the original accommodation space available during deposition and ultimately by tectonic modification of the foreland in its postthrusting stages. The preservation of facies within the foreland...
Simulated effects of Lower Floridan aquifer pumping on the Upper Floridan aquifer at Pooler, Chatham County, Georgia
Gregory S. Cherry, John S. Clarke
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5004
A revised regional groundwater-flow model was used to assess the potential effects on the Upper Floridan aquifer (UFA) of pumping the Lower Floridan aquifer (LFA) from a new well (35Q069) located at the City of Pooler in coastal Georgia near Savannah. The spatial resolution of the original regional, steady-state, groundwater-flow...
Concentrations of elements in fish fillets, fish muscle plugs, and crayfish from the 2011 Missouri Department of Conservation general contaminant monitoring program
Thomas W. May, Michael J. Walther, William G. Brumbaugh, Michael J. McKee
2013, Open-File Report 2012-1268
This report presents the results of a contaminant monitoring survey conducted annually by the Missouri Department of Conservation to examine the levels of selected elemental contaminants in fish fillets, fish muscle plugs, and crayfish. Fillet samples of yellow bullhead (Ameiurus natalis), golden redhorse (Moxostoma erythrurum), longear sunfish (Lepomis megalotis), and...
Bedrock topography of western Cape Cod, Massachusetts, based on bedrock altitudes from geologic borings and analysis of ambient seismic noise by the horizontal-to-vertical spectral-ratio method
Gillian M. Fairchild, John W. Lane Jr., Emily B. Voytek, Denis R. LeBlanc
2013, Scientific Investigations Map 3233
This report presents a topographic map of the bedrock surface beneath western Cape Cod, Massachusetts, that was prepared for use in groundwater-flow models of the Sagamore lens of the Cape Cod aquifer. The bedrock surface of western Cape Cod had been characterized previously through seismic refraction surveys and borings drilled...
Implications for future survival of delta smelt from four climate change scenarios for the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, California
Larry R. Brown, William A. Bennett, R. Wayne Wagner, Tara Morgan-King, Noah Knowles, Frederick Feyrer, David H. Schoellhamer, Mark T. Stacey, Mike Dettinger
2013, Estuaries and Coasts (36) 754-774
Changes in the position of the low salinity zone, a habitat suitability index, turbidity, and water temperature modeled from four 100-year scenarios of climate change were evaluated for possible effects on delta smelt Hypomesus transpacificus, which is endemic to the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta. The persistence of delta smelt in much...
Description of input and examples for PHREEQC version 3: A computer program for speciation, batch-reaction, one-dimensional transport, and inverse geochemical calculations
David L. Parkhurst, C.A.J. Appelo
2013, Techniques and Methods 6-A43
PHREEQC version 3 is a computer program written in the C and C++ programming languages that is designed to perform a wide variety of aqueous geochemical calculations. PHREEQC implements several types of aqueous models: two ion-association aqueous models (the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory model and WATEQ4F), a Pitzer specific-ion-interaction aqueous...
The Greenville Fault: preliminary estimates of its long-term creep rate and seismic potential
James J. Lienkaemper, Robert G. Barry, Forrest E. Smith, Joseph D. Mello, Forrest S. McFarland
2013, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (103) 2729-2738
Once assumed locked, we show that the northern third of the Greenville fault (GF) creeps at 2 mm/yr, based on 47 yr of trilateration net data. This northern GF creep rate equals its 11-ka slip rate, suggesting a low strain accumulation rate. In 1980, the GF, easternmost strand of the...
Nutrient cycling, connectivity, and free-floating plant abundance in backwater lakes of the Upper Mississippi River
Jeffrey N. Houser, Shawn M. Giblin, William F. James, H.A. Langrehr, James T. Rogala, John F. Sullivan, Brian R. Gray
2013, River Systems (21) 71-89
River eutrophication may cause the formation of dense surface mats of free floating plants (FFP; e.g., duckweeds and filamentous algae) which may adversely affect the ecosystem. We investigated associations among hydraulic connectivity to the channel, nutrient cycling, FFP, submersed aquatic vegetation (SAV), and dissolved oxygen concentration (DO) in ten backwater...
Bakken, Three Forks largest continuous US oil accumulation
Stephanie B. Gaswirth, Kristen R. Marra
2013, Oil & Gas Journal (112) 48-53
The recent reversal of the declining trend of US oil production is largely due to production from unconventional or "continuous" low-permeability reservoirs by use of multistage hydraulic fracturing of horizontal legs of exploration wells. The US currently produces about 7.4 million bo/d, and the increasing trend in domestic production has...
Sea-floor character and geology off the entrance to the Connecticut River, northeastern Long Island Sound
Lawrence J. Poppe, Katherine Y. McMullen, Seth D. Ackerman, Megan R. Guberski, Douglas A. Wood
2013, Open-File Report 2012-1103
Datasets of gridded multibeam bathymetry and sidescan-sonar backscatter, together covering approximately 29.1 square kilometers, were used to interpret character and geology of the sea floor off the entrance to the Connecticut River in northeastern Long Island Sound. Although originally collected for charting purposes during National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration hydrographic...
Estimates of gains and losses from unmeasured sources and sinks for streamflow and dissolved-solids load in selected reaches of the Arkansas River, southeastern Colorado, 2009-2010
Roderick F. Ortiz
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5252
The Arkansas River is an important municipal water supply and is the primary supply for about 400,000 acres of irrigated land in southeastern Colorado. The suitability of this water for domestic, agricultural, and industrial use is affected by high salinity in parts of the Arkansas River. There is a need...
Hydrothermal alteration maps of the central and southern Basin and Range province of the United States compiled from Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) data
John L. Mars
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1139
Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) data and Interactive Data Language (IDL) logical operator algorithms were used to map hydrothermally altered rocks in the central and southern parts of the Basin and Range province of the United States. The hydrothermally altered rocks mapped in this study include (1)...
Simultaneous estimation of local-scale and flow path-scale dual-domain mass transfer parameters using geoelectrical monitoring
Martin A. Briggs, Frederick D. Day-Lewis, John B. Ong, Gary P. Curtis, John W. Lane Jr.
2013, Water Resources Research (49) 5615-5630
Anomalous solute transport, modeled as rate-limited mass transfer, has an observable geoelectrical signature that can be exploited to infer the controlling parameters. Previous experiments indicate the combination of time-lapse geoelectrical and fluid conductivity measurements collected during ionic tracer experiments provides valuable insight into the exchange of solute between mobile and...
Information to support to monitoring and habitat restoration on Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge
G. Gary Scoppettone
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1022
The Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge staff focuses on improving habitat for the highest incidence of endemic species for an area of its size in the continental United States. Attempts are being made to restore habitat to some semblance of its pre-anthropogenic undisturbed condition, and to provide habitat conditions to...
Nutrient and sediment concentrations, yields, and loads in impaired streams and rivers in the Taunton River Basin, Massachusetts, 1997-2008
Jeffrey R. Barbaro, Jason R. Sorenson
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5277
Rapid development, population growth, and the changes in land and water use accompanying development are placing increasing stress on water resources in the Taunton River Basin. An assessment by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection determined that a number of tributary streams to the Taunton River are impaired for a...
Application of environmental DNA for inventory and monitoring of aquatic species
David S. Pilliod, Caren S. Goldberg, Matthew B. Laramie, Lisette P. Waits
2013, Fact Sheet 2012-3146
This fact sheet was created to help biologists and resource managers understand emerging methods for detecting environmental DNA and their potential application for inventorying and monitoring aquatic species. It is a synthesis of published information....
Mw 8.6 Sumatran earthquake of 11 April 2012: rare seaward expression of oblique subduction
Miaki Ishii, Eric Kiser, Eric L. Geist
2013, Geology (41) 319-322
The magnitude 8.6 and 8.2 earthquakes off northwestern Sumatra on 11 April 2012 generated small tsunami waves that were recorded by stations around the Indian Ocean. Combining differential travel-time modeling of tsunami waves with results from back projection of seismic data reveals a complex source with a significant trench-parallel component....
Landsat surface reflectance quality assurance extraction (version 1.7)
J. W. Jones, M.J. Starbuck, Calli B. Jenkerson
2013, Techniques and Methods 11-C7
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Land Remote Sensing Program is developing an operational capability to produce Climate Data Records (CDRs) and Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) from the Landsat Archive to support a wide variety of science and resource management activities from regional to global scale. The USGS Earth Resources Observation...
Hydrogeologic framework, hydrology, and water quality in the Pearce Creek Dredge Material Containment Area and vicinity, Cecil County, Maryland, 2010-11
Cheryl A. Dieter, Michael T. Koterba, Otto S. Zapecza, Charles W. Walker, Donald E. Rice
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5263
In 2009, to support an evaluation of the feasibility of reopening the Pearce Creek Dredge Material Containment Area (DMCA) in Cecil County, Maryland, for dredge-spoil disposal, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began to implement a comprehensive study designed to improve the understanding of the hydrogeologic framework, hydrology, and water quality...
User’s manual to update the National Wildlife Refuge System Water Quality Information System (WQIS)
Kimberly A. Chojnacki, Chad J. Vishy, Jo Ellen Hinck, Susan E. Finger, Michael J. Higgins, Kevin Kilbride
2013, Techniques and Methods 11-C8
National Wildlife Refuges may have impaired water quality resulting from historic and current land uses, upstream sources, and aerial pollutant deposition. National Wildlife Refuge staff have limited time available to identify and evaluate potential water quality issues. As a result, water quality–related issues may not be resolved until a problem...
Bedrock geologic map of the Nashua South quadrangle, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, and Middlesex County, Massachusetts
Gregory J. Walsh, Richard H. Jahns, John N. Aleinikoff
2013, Scientific Investigations Map 3200
The bedrock geology of the 7.5-minute Nashua South quadrangle consists primarily of deformed Silurian metasedimentary rocks of the Berwick Formation. The metasedimentary rocks are intruded by a Late Silurian to Early Devonian diorite-gabbro suite, Devonian rocks of the Ayer Granodiorite, Devonian granitic rocks of the New Hampshire Plutonic Suite including...
Estimated anthropogenic nitrogen and phosphorus inputs to the land surface of the conterminous United States--1992, 1997, and 2002
Lori A. Sprague, Jo Ann M. Gronberg
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5241
Anthropogenic inputs of nitrogen and phosphorus to each county in the conterminous United States and to the watersheds of 495 surface-water sites studied as part of the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment Program were quantified for the years 1992, 1997, and 2002. Estimates of inputs of nitrogen and phosphorus...
What is the economic value of satellite imagery?
Ronald P. Raunikar, William M. Forney, Susan P. Benjamin
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3003
Does remote-sensing information, such as that from Landsat and similar Earth-observing satellites, provide economic benefits to society, and can this value be estimated? Using satellite data for northeastern Iowa, U.S. Geological Survey scientists modeled the relations among land uses, agricultural production, and dynamic nitrate (NO3-) contamination of aquifers. They demonstrated...