Mapping, monitoring, and modeling Western Gateway Community landscape dynamics
D. J. Hester
2013, Fact Sheet 2012-3141
Federal public lands in the western United States are becoming increasingly surrounded by Gateway Communities. These communities are undergoing landscape change due to population growth, economic growth, and the resulting land-use development. Socioeconomic, demographic, and land-use changes in Gateway Communities are often perceived as threats to Federal land resources, natural...
Water-quality data collected to determine the presence, source, and concentration of lead in the drinking water supply at Pipe Spring National Monument, northern Arizona
Jamie P. Macy, David Sharrow, Joel Unema
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1029
Pipe Spring National Monument in northern Arizona contains historically significant springs. The groundwater source of these springs is the same aquifer that presently is an important source of drinking water for the Pipe Spring National Monument facilities, the Kaibab Paiute Tribe, and the community of Moccasin. The Kaibab Paiute Tribe...
Model documentation for relations between continuous real-time and discrete water-quality constituents in the North Fork Ninnescah River upstream from Cheney Reservoir, south-central Kansas, 1999--2009
Mandy L. Stone, Jennifer L. Graham, Jackline W. Gatotho
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1014
Cheney Reservoir in south-central Kansas is one of the primary sources of water for the city of Wichita. The North Fork Ninnescah River is the largest contributing tributary to Cheney Reservoir. The U.S. Geological Survey has operated a continuous real-time water-quality monitoring station since 1998 on the North Fork Ninnescah...
Population estimates for the Toiyabe population of the Columbia spotted frog (Rana luteiventris), 2004–10
M. J. Adams, Chad Mellison, Stephanie K. Galvan
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1036
The Toiyabe population of Columbia spotted frogs (Rana luteiventris, hereafter "Toiyabe frogs") is a geographically isolated population located in central Nevada (fig. 1). The Toiyabe population is part of the Great Basin Distinct Population Segment of Columbia spotted frogs, and is a candidate for listing under the Endangered Species Act...
Spectroscopic remote sensing of the distribution and persistence of oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill in Barataria Bay marshes
Raymond F. Kokaly, Brady Couvillion, JoAnn M. Holloway, Dar A. Roberts, Susan L. Ustin, Seth H. Peterson, Shruti Khanna, Sarai C. Piazza
2013, Remote Sensing of Environment (129) 210-230
We applied a spectroscopic analysis to Airborne Visible/InfraRed Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) data collected from low and medium altitudes during and after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill to delineate the distribution of oil-damaged canopies in the marshes of Barataria Bay, Louisiana. Spectral feature analysis compared the AVIRIS data to reference spectra...
Water-level and storage changes in the High Plains aquifer, predevelopment to 2011 and 2009-11
Virginia L. McGuire
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5291
The High Plains aquifer underlies 111.8 million acres (175,000 square miles) in parts of eight States--Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming. Water-level declines began in parts of the High Plains aquifer soon after the beginning of substantial irrigation with groundwater in the aquifer area. This...
Characterization of streamflow, water quality, and instantaneous dissolved solids, selenium, and uranium loads in selected reaches of the Arkansas River, southeastern Colorado, 2009-2010
Tamara Ivahnenko, Roderick F. Ortiz, Stogner
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5234
As a result of continued water-quality concerns in the Arkansas River, including metal contamination from historical mining practices, potential effects associated with storage and movement of water, point- and nonpoint-source contamination, population growth, storm-water flows, and future changes in land and water use, the Arkansas River Basin Regional Resource Planning...
Mineral commodity summaries 2013
Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey
2013, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2013
Each chapter of the 2013 edition of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Mineral Commodity Summaries (MCS) includes information on events, trends, and issues for each mineral commodity as well as discussions and tabular presentations on domestic industry structure, Government programs, tariffs, 5-year salient statistics, and world production and resources. The...
U.S. Department of the Interior STEM education and employment pathways strategic plan fiscal years 2013--2018
DOI STEM Education Working Group
2013, Report
The Department of the Interior’s Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2011–2016 presents the Department of the Interior’s vision for a 21st century Department whose highly skilled workforce reflects the diversity of the Nation, optimizes youth engagement throughout its programs, promotes sustainable operations, and applies effective and efficient management....
Potential reductions of street solids and phosphorus in urban watersheds from street cleaning, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2009-11
Jason R. Sorenson
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5292
Material accumulating and washing off urban street surfaces and ultimately into stormwater drainage systems represents a substantial nonpoint source of solids, phosphorus, and other constituent loading to waterways in urban areas. Cost and lack of usable space limit the type and number of structural stormwater source controls available to municipalities...
Aquatic assessment of the Pike Hill Copper Mine Superfund site, Corinth, Vermont
Nadine M. Piatak, Denise M. Argue, Robert R. Seal II, Richard G. Kiah, John M. Besser, James F. Coles, Jane M. Hammarstrom, Denise M. Levitan, Jeffrey R. Deacon, Christopher G. Ingersoll
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5288
The Pike Hill Copper Mine Superfund site in Corinth, Orange County, Vermont, includes the Eureka, Union, and Smith mines along with areas of downstream aquatic ecosystem impairment. The site was placed on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) National Priorities List in 2004. The mines, which operated from about 1847...
Velocity Mapping Toolbox (VMT): a processing and visualization suite for moving-vessel ADCP measurements
D.R. Parsons, P.R. Jackson, J. A. Czuba, F.L. Engel, B.L. Rhoads, K. A. Oberg, J.L. Best, D. S. Mueller, K. K. Johnson, J.D. Riley
2013, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms (38) 1244-1260
The use of acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCP) for discharge measurements and three-dimensional flow mapping has increased rapidly in recent years and has been primarily driven by advances in acoustic technology and signal processing. Recent research has developed a variety of methods for processing data obtained from a range of...
Groundwater quality in the Madera and Chowchilla subbasins of the San Joaquin Valley, California
Jennifer L. Shelton, Miranda S. Fram, Kenneth Belitz
2013, Fact Sheet 2012-3099
Groundwater provides more than 40 percent of California’s drinking water. To protect this vital resource, the State of California created the Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program. The Priority Basin Project of the GAMA Program provides a comprehensive assessment of the State’s untreated groundwater quality and increases public access...
Sources and characteristics of organic matter in the Clackamas River, Oregon, related to the formation of disinfection by-products in treated drinking water
Kurt D. Carpenter, Tamara E.C. Kraus, Jami H. Goldman, John Franco Saraceno, Bryan D. Downing, Brian A. Bergamaschi, Gordon McGhee, Tracy Triplett
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5001
This study characterized the amount and quality of organic matter in the Clackamas River, Oregon, to gain an understanding of sources that contribute to the formation of chlorinated and brominated disinfection by-products (DBPs), focusing on regulated DBPs in treated drinking water from two direct-filtration treatment plants that together serve approximately...
Prediction of suspended-sediment concentrations at selected sites in the Fountain Creek watershed, Colorado, 2008-09
Stogner, Jonathan M. Nelson, Richard R. McDonald, Paul J. Kinzel, David P. Mau
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5102
In 2008, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments, Colorado Water Conservation Board, Colorado Springs City Engineering, and the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District, began a small-scale pilot study to evaluate the effectiveness of the use of a computational model of streamflow...
Malberg Mystery
Shannon Barber-Meyer
2013, International Wolf (23)
No abstract available....
Status and understanding of groundwater quality in the Madera, Chowchilla Study Unit, 2008: California GAMA Priority Basin Project
Jennifer L. Shelton, Miranda S. Fram, Kenneth Belitz, Bryant C. Jurgens
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5094
Groundwater quality in the approximately 860-square-mile Madera and Chowchilla Subbasins (Madera-Chowchilla study unit) of the San Joaquin Valley Basin was investigated as part of the Priority Basin Project of the Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program. The study unit is located in California's Central Valley region in parts of...
Integrating stations from the North America Gravity Database into a local GPS-based land gravity survey
Thomas G. Shoberg, Paul R. Stoddard
2013, Journal of Applied Geophysics (89) 76-83
The ability to augment local gravity surveys with additional gravity stations from easily accessible national databases can greatly increase the areal coverage and spatial resolution of a survey. It is, however, necessary to integrate such data seamlessly with the local survey. One challenge to overcome in integrating data from national...
Effect of heterogeneous atmospheric CO2 on simulated global carbon budget
Zhen Zhang, Hong Jiang, Jinxun Liu, Weimin Ju, Xiuying Zhang
2013, Global and Planetary Change (101) 33-51
The effects of rising atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) on terrestrial carbon (C) sequestration have been a key focus in global change studies. As anthropological CO2 emissions substantially increase, the spatial variability of atmospheric CO2 should be considered to reduce the potential bias on C source and sink estimations. In this...
Assessment of groundwater quality data for the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation, Rolette County, North Dakota
Robert F. Lundgren, Kevin C. Vining
2013, Data Series 732
The Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation relies on groundwater supplies to meet the demands of community and economic needs. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, examined historical groundwater-level and groundwater-quality data for the Fox Hills, Hell Creek, Rolla, and Shell Valley aquifers. The...
Volcano crisis response at Yellowstone volcanic complex - after-action report for exercise held at Salt Lake City, Utah, November 15, 2011
Thomas C. Pierson, Carolyn L. Driedger, Robert I. Tilling
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1018
A functional tabletop exercise was run on November 14-15, 2011 in Salt Lake City, Utah, to test crisis response capabilities, communication protocols, and decision-making by the staff of the multi-agency Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO) as they reacted to a hypothetical exercise scenario of accelerating volcanic unrest at the Yellowstone caldera....
In-place oil shale resources examined by grade in the major basins of the Green River Formation, Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming
Justin E. Birdwell, Tracey J. Mercier, Ronald C. Johnson, Michael E. Brownfield
2013, Fact Sheet 2012-3145
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated a total of 4.285 trillion barrels of oil in-place in the oil shale of the three principal basins of the Eocene Green River Formation. Using oil shale cutoffs of potentially viable (15 gallons per ton) and high grade (25 gallons...
Amphibians and reptiles of Guyana, South America: illustrated keys, annotated species accounts, and a biogeographic synopsis
Charles J. Cole, Carol R. Townsend, Robert P. Reynolds, Ross D. MacCulloch, Amy Lathrop
2013, Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington (125) 317-578
Guyana has a very distinctive herpetofauna. In this first ever detailed modern accounting, based on voucher specimens, we document the presence of 324 species of amphibians and reptiles in the country; 148 amphibians, 176 reptiles. Of these, we present species accounts for 317 species and color photographs of about 62%...
Chinook salmon foraging patterns in a changing Lake Michigan
Gregory R. Jacobs, Charles P. Madenjian, David B. Bunnell, David M. Warner, Randall M. Claramunt
2013, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (142) 362-372
Since Pacific salmon stocking began in Lake Michigan, managers have attempted to maintain salmon abundance at high levels within what can be sustained by available prey fishes, primarily Alewife Alosa pseudoharengus. Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha are the primary apex predators in pelagic Lake Michigan and patterns in their prey selection...
Local-area-enhanced, 2.5-meter resolution natural-color and color-infrared satellite-image mosaics of the Takhar mineral district in Afghanistan: Chapter Q in Local-area-enhanced, high-resolution natural-color and color-infrared satellite-image mosaics of mineral districts in Afghanistan
Philip A. Davis, Laura E. Cagney
2013, Data Series 709-Q
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Defense Task Force for Business and Stability Operations, prepared databases for mineral-resource target areas in Afghanistan. The purpose of the databases is to (1) provide useful data to ground-survey crews for use in performing detailed assessments of the...
