ShakeMap Atlas 2.0: an improved suite of recent historical earthquake ShakeMaps for global hazard analyses and loss model calibration
D. Garcia, R.T. Mah, K. L. Johnson, M.G. Hearne, K. D. Marano, K.-W. Lin, D.J. Wald
2012, Conference Paper, The 15th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering: September 24-28, 2012, Lisbon, Portugal
We introduce the second version of the U.S. Geological Survey ShakeMap Atlas, which is an openly-available compilation of nearly 8,000 ShakeMaps of the most significant global earthquakes between 1973 and 2011. This revision of the Atlas includes: (1) a new version of the ShakeMap software that improves data usage and...
Impact disruption and recovery of the deep subsurface biosphere
Charles S. Cockell, Mary A. Voytek, Aaron L. Gronstal, Kai Finster, Julie D. Kirshtein, Kieren Howard, Joachim Reitner, Gregory S. Gohn, Ward E. Sanford, J. Wright Horton Jr., Jens Kallmeyer, Laura Kelly, David S. Powars
2012, Astrobiology (12) 231-246
Although a large fraction of the world's biomass resides in the subsurface, there has been no study of the effects of catastrophic disturbance on the deep biosphere and the rate of its subsequent recovery. We carried out an investigation of the microbiology of a 1.76 km drill core obtained from the...
Mineral resource of the month: boron
Robert D. Crangle Jr.
2012, Earth (57) 23-23
The article offers information on the mineral, boron. Boron compounds, particularly borates, have more commercial applications than its elemental relative which is a metalloid. Making up the 90% of the borates that are used worldwide are colemanite, kernite, tincal, and ulexite. The main borate deposits are located in the Mojave...
Mineral resource of the month: dimension stone
Thomas P. Dolley
2012, Earth (57) 65-65
The article offers information on dimension stone (DS) that are quarried as natural rock for a specific size and dimension chosen for its color, strength, durability. Varieties of metamorphic, igneous or sedimentary rocks are used but DS rocks are mainly marble, granite and slate that can be found from Maine...
Modeling species invasions in Ecopath with Ecosim: an evaluation using Laurentian Great Lakes models
Brian J. Langseth, Mark Rogers, Hongyan Zhang
2012, Ecological Modelling (247) 251-261
Invasive species affect the structure and processes of ecosystems they invade. Invasive species have been particularly relevant to the Laurentian Great Lakes, where they have played a part in both historical and recent changes to Great Lakes food webs and the fisheries supported therein. There is increased interest in understanding...
Mineral resource of the month: tungsten
Kim B. Shedd
2012, Earth (57) 57-57
The article offers information on tungsten. It says that tungsten is a metal found in chemical compounds such as in the scheelite and ore minerals wolframite. It states that tungsten has the highest melting point and it forms a compound as hard as diamond when combined with carbon. It states...
Mineral resource of the month: mercury
Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey
2012, Earth (57) 61-61
The article offers information on mercury, a mineral commodity used in industrial and small-scale gold mining applications. Mercury has been reported to be used for amalgamation with gold since the Roman times. Mercury from cinnabar from Almadén, Spain has been used by Romans and has been continued to be used...
P-T-t conditions, Nd and Pb isotopic compositions and detrital zircon geochronology of the Massabesic Gneiss Complex, New Hampshire: isotopic and metamorphic evidence for the identification of Gander basement, central New England
Michael J. Dorais, Robert P. Wintsch, Michael J. Kunk, John Aleinikoff, William Burton, Christine Underdown, Charles M. Kerwin
2012, American Journal of Science (312) 1049-1097
We present new evidence for the assignment of the Neoproterozoic Massabesic Gneiss Complex of New Hampshire to the Gander terrane rather than the Avalon terrane. The majority of Avalonian (sensu stricto) igneous and meta-igneous rocks as defined in Maritime Canada have positive whole-rock ɛNd compared to more negative values for...
Type E botulism outbreaks: a manual for beach managers and the public
2012, Book
The Great Lakes basin has undergone a resurgence of Type E botulism (often referred to as avian botulism) in recent years, characterized by dead birds and fish along the shores of the Great Lakes. The number of deaths and areas affected appear to be increasing to levels that induce concern...
Perlite
W. Bolen
2012, Mining Engineering (64) 80-81
Domestic production, consumption, exports and prices of perlite in the United States were all estimated to have decreased in 2011 compared with 2010, but not significantly. The weak economic conditions that prevailed in the United States for most of the 2011 probably accounted for these decreases. The only statistic that...
Habitat use and movement patterns of Northern Pintails during spring in northern Japan: the importance of agricultural lands
Noriyuki M. Yamaguchi, Jerry W. Hupp, Paul L. Flint, John M. Pearce, Yusuke Shigeta, Tetsuo Shimada, Emiko N. Hiraoka, Hiroyoshi Higuchi
2012, Journal of Field Ornithology (83) 141-153
From 2006 to 2009, we marked 198 Northern Pintails (Anas acuta) with satellite transmitters on their wintering areas in Japan to study their migration routes and habitat use in spring staging areas. We hypothesized that the distribution of pintails during spring staging was influenced by patterns of land use and...
Glass wool filters for concentrating waterborne viruses and agricultural zoonotic pathogens
Hana T. Millen, Jordan C. Gonnering, Ryan K. Berg, Susan K. Spencer, William E. Jokela, John M. Pearce, Jackson S. Borchardt, Mark A. Borchardt
2012, Journal of Visualized Experiments (61)
The key first step in evaluating pathogen levels in suspected contaminated water is concentration. Concentration methods tend to be specific for a particular pathogen group, for example US Environmental Protection Agency Method 1623 for Giardia and Cryptosporidium1, which means multiple methods are required if the sampling program is targeting more...
Biogeochemistry: unexpected uptake
Jayne Belnap
2012, Nature Geoscience (5) 443-444
Lichens, cyanobacteria, mosses and algae coat many terrestrial surfaces. These biological covers turn out to play an important role in the global cycling of carbon and nitrogen....
Sequential development of platform to off-platform facies of the great American carbonate bank in the central Appalachians
David K. Brezinski, John F. Taylor, John E. Repetski
2012, Book chapter, The great American carbonate bank: The geology and economic resources of the Cambrian–Ordovician Sauk megasequence of Laurentia
In the central Appalachians, carbonate deposition of the great American carbonate bank began during the Early Cambrian with the creation of initial ramp facies of the Vintage Formation and lower members of the Tomstown Formation. Vertical stacking of bioturbated subtidal ramp deposits (Bolivar Heights Member) and dolomitized microbial boundtsone (Fort...
Ball clay
R.L. Virta
2012, Mining Engineering (64) 33-34
Four companies — H.C. Spinks Clay Co., Inc., Imerys Group, Old Hickory Clay Co., and Unimin Corp. — mined ball clay in four states in 2011. Production, on the basis of preliminary data, was 940 kt (1.04 million st) with an estimated value of $44.2 million. This is a 3-percent...
Bauxite and alumina
E.L. Bray
2012, Mining Engineering (64) 35-36
The United States is import-reliant for nearly all of the bauxite that it consumes. Small amounts of bauxite and bauxitic clays are produced in Alabama, Arkansas and Georgia for nonmetallurgical uses. Metallurgical-grade bauxite (crude dry) imports in 2011 totaled 9.54 Mt (10.5 million st), 18 percent more than the quantity...
Kaolin
R.L. Virta
2012, Mining Engineering (64) 70-71
Fifteen companies mined kaolin in nine states in 2011. Production, on the basis of preliminary data, was estimated to be 5.48 Mt (6.04 million st) valued at $822 million, an increase from 5.42 Mt (5.97 million st) valued at $788 million in 2010. Production in Georgia, the top producing state,...
Impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on a deep-water coral community in the Gulf of Mexico
Helen K. White, Pen-Yuan Hsing, Walter Cho, Timothy M. Shank, Erik E. Cordes, Andrea M. Quattrini, Robert K. Nelson, Richard Camilli, Amanda W.J. Demopoulos, Christopher R. German, James M. Brooks, Harry H. Roberts, William Shedd, Christopher M. Reddy, Charles R. Fisher
2012, PNAS (109) 20303-20308
To assess the potential impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on offshore ecosystems, 11 sites hosting deep-water coral communities were examined 3 to 4 mo after the well was capped. Healthy coral communities were observed at all sites >20 km from the Macondo well, including seven sites previously visited...
Industrial garnet
D.W. Olson
2012, Mining Engineering (64) 64-64
Garnet has been used as a gemstone since the Bronze Age. However, garnet's angular fractures, relatively high hardness and specific gravity, chemical inertness, and nontoxicity make it ideal for many industrial applications. It is also free of crystalline silica and can be recycled....
Conflicts between sandhill cranes and farmers in the western United States: evolving issues and solutions
Jane E. Austin
2012, Conference Paper, Cranes, Agriculture and Climate Change, May 28 - June 3, 2010, Muraviovka Park for Sustainable Land Use, Amur Region, Russia
The main conflicts between Sandhill Cranes (Grus canadensis) and farmers in western United States occur in the Rocky Mountain region during migration and wintering periods. Most crop damage by cranes occurs in mature wheat (Triticum aestivum) and barley (Hordeum vulgare), young shoots of alfalfa (Medicago sativa) and cereal grains, chilies...
Fluorspar
M. Miller
2012, Mining Engineering (64) 51-52
World fluorspar demand continued to show signs of recovery from 2008-2009 recession. In 2011, nearly all fluorspar (CaF2) consumed in the United States was imported. Hastie Mining and Trucking Co. produced some fluorspar as a byproduct from its limestone quarry operations in Illinois. In addition, a small amount of usable...
A Gibbs sampler for Bayesian analysis of site-occupancy data
Robert M. Dorazio, Daniel Taylor Rodriguez
2012, Methods in Ecology and Evolution (3) 1093-1098
1. A Bayesian analysis of site-occupancy data containing covariates of species occurrence and species detection probabilities is usually completed using Markov chain Monte Carlo methods in conjunction with software programs that can implement those methods for any statistical model, not just site-occupancy models. Although these software programs are quite flexible, considerable...
Nuclear and mitochondrial markers reveal evidence for genetically segregated cryptic speciation in giant Pacific octopuses from Prince William Sound, Alaska
Rebecca K. Toussaint, David Scheel, G. Kevin Sage, Sandra L. Talbot
2012, Conservation Genetics (13) 1483-1497
Multiple species of large octopus are known from the north Pacific waters around Japan, however only one large species is known in the Gulf of Alaska (the giant Pacific octopus, Enteroctopus dofleini). Current taxonomy of E. dofleini is based on geographic and morphological characteristics, although with advances in genetic technology...
Drainage network structure and hydrologic behavior of three lake-rich watersheds on the Arctic Coastal Plain, Alaska
C.D. Arp, M.S. Whitman, Benjamin M. Jones, R. Kemnitz, G. Grosse, F.E. Urban
2012, Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research (44) 385-394
Watersheds draining the Arctic Coastal Plain (ACP) of Alaska are dominated by permafrost and snowmelt runoff that create abundant surface storage in the form of lakes, wetlands, and beaded streams. These surface water elements compose complex drainage networks that affect aquatic ecosystem connectivity and hydrologic behavior. The 4676 km2 Fish...
Downscaling future climate projections to the watershed scale: A north San Francisco Bay estuary case study
Elisabeth Micheli, Lorraine Flint, Alan Flint, Stuart Weiss, Morgan Kennedy
2012, San Francisco Estuary and Watershed Science (10)
We modeled the hydrology of basins draining into the northern portion of the San Francisco Bay Estuary (North San Pablo Bay) using a regional water balance model (Basin Characterization Model; BCM) to estimate potential effects of climate change at the watershed scale. The BCM calculates water balance components, including runoff,...
