Selenium in aquatic biota inhabiting agricultural drains in the Salton Sea Basin, California
Michael K. Saiki, Barbara A. Martin, Thomas W. May
2012, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (184) 5623-5640
Resource managers are concerned that water conservation practices in irrigated farmlands along the southern border of the Salton Sea, Imperial County, California, could increase selenium concentrations in agricultural drainwater and harm the desert pupfish (Cyprinodon macularius), a federally protected endangered species. As part of a broader attempt to...
Effectiveness of common fish screen materials to protect lamprey ammocoetes
Brien P. Rose, Matthew G. Mesa
2012, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (32) 597-603
Understanding the effects of irrigation diversions on populations of Pacific lampreyLampetra tridentata in the Columbia River basin is needed for their recovery. We tested the effectiveness of five common fish screen materials for excluding lamprey ammocoetes: interlock (IL), vertical bar (VB), perforated plate (PP), and 12-gauge and 14-gauge wire cloth (WC12)...
Detecting hidden volcanic explosions from Mt. Cleveland Volcano, Alaska with infrasound and ground-couples airwaves
Slivio De Angelis, David Fee, Matthew Haney, David Schneider
2012, Geophysical Research Letters (39)
In Alaska, where many active volcanoes exist without ground-based instrumentation, the use of techniques suitable for distant monitoring is pivotal. In this study we report regional-scale seismic and infrasound observations of volcanic activity at Mt. Cleveland between December 2011 and August 2012. During this period, twenty explosions were detected by...
Roles of inflammatory caspases during processing of zebrafish interleukin-1β in Francisella noatunensis infection
Lucia N. Vojtech, Nichole Scharping, James C. Woodson, John D. Hansen
2012, Infection and Immunity (80) 2878-2885
The interleukin-1 family of cytokines are essential for the control of pathogenic microbes but are also responsible for devastating autoimmune pathologies. Consequently, tight regulation of inflammatory processes is essential for maintaining homeostasis. In mammals, interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) is primarily regulated at two levels, transcription and processing. The main pathway for...
The Midwest Stream Quality Assessment
Peter C. Van Metre, Jeffrey W. Frey, Ellen Tarquinio
2012, Fact Sheet 2012-3124
In 2013, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment Program (NAWQA) and USGS Columbia Environmental Research Center (CERC) will be collaborating with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) National Rivers and Streams Assessment (NRSA) to assess stream quality across the Midwestern United States. The sites selected for this study...
Status and trends of land change in the Western United States--1973 to 2000
Benjamin M. Sleeter, Tamara S. Wilson, William Acevedo, editor(s)
2012, Professional Paper 1794-A
Preface U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Professional Paper 1794–A is the first in a four-volume series on the status and trends of the Nation’s land use and land cover, providing an assessment of the rates and causes of land-use and land-cover change in the Western United States between 1973 and 2000. Volumes...
Use of ASTER and MODIS thermal infrared data to quantify heat flow and hydrothermal change at Yellowstone National Park
R. Greg Vaughan, Laszlo P. Keszthelyi, Jacob B. Lowenstern, Cheryl Jaworowski, Henry Heasler
2012, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (233-234) 72-89
The overarching aim of this study was to use satellite thermal infrared (TIR) remote sensing to monitor geothermal activity within the Yellowstone geothermal area to meet the missions of both the U.S. Geological Survey and the Yellowstone National Park Geology Program. Specific goals were to: 1) address the challenges...
Spatial genetic structure and asymmetrical gene flow within the Pacific walrus
Sarah A. Sonsthagen, Chadwick V. Jay, Anthony S. Fischbach, George K. Sage, Sandra L. Talbot
2012, Journal of Mammalogy (93) 1512-1524
Pacific walruses (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) occupying shelf waters of Pacific Arctic seas migrate during spring and summer from 3 breeding areas in the Bering Sea to form sexually segregated nonbreeding aggregations. We assessed genetic relationships among 2 putative breeding populations and 6 nonbreeding aggregations. Analyses of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control...
Ecosystem services valuation to support decisionmaking on public lands—A case study of the San Pedro River watershed, Arizona
Kenneth J. Bagstad, Darius J. Semmens, Rob Winthrop, Delilah Jaworksi, Joel Larson
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5251
This report details the findings of the Bureau of Land Management–U.S. Geological Survey Ecosystem Services Valuation Pilot Study. This project evaluated alternative methods and tools that quantify and value ecosystem services, and it assessed the tools’ readiness for use in the Bureau of Land Management decisionmaking process. We tested these...
Carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide degassing and cryptic thermal input to Brimstone Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
D. Bergfeld, William C. Evans, J. B. Lowenstern, S. Hurwitz
2012, Chemical Geology (330-331) 233-243
Brimstone Basin, a remote area of intense hydrothermal alteration a few km east of the Yellowstone Caldera, is rarely studied and has long been considered to be a cold remnant of an ancient hydrothermal system. A field campaign in 2008 confirmed that gas emissions from the few small vents were...
Estimated probability of arsenic in groundwater from bedrock aquifers in New Hampshire, 2011
Joseph D. Ayotte, Matthew Cahillane, Laura Hayes, Keith W. Robinson
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5156
Probabilities of arsenic occurrence in groundwater from bedrock aquifers at concentrations of 1, 5, and 10 micrograms per liter (µg/L) were estimated during 2011 using multivariate logistic regression. These estimates were developed for use by the New Hampshire Environmental Public Health Tracking Program. About 39 percent of New Hampshire bedrock...
Thermal maturity map of Devonian shale in the Illinois, Michigan, and Appalachian basins of North America
Joseph A. East, Christopher S. Swezey, John E. Repetski, Daniel O. Hayba
2012, Scientific Investigations Map 3214
Much of the oil and gas in the Illinois, Michigan, and Appalachian basins of eastern North America is thought to be derived from Devonian shale that is within these basins (for example, Milici and others, 2003; Swezey, 2002, 2008, 2009; Swezey and others, 2005, 2007). As the Devonian strata were...
Hydrate morphology: Physical properties of sands with patchy hydrate saturation
S. Dai, J.C. Santamarina, William F. Waite, T.J. Kneafsey
2012, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (117) B11205
The physical properties of gas hydrate-bearing sediments depend on the volume fraction and spatial distribution of the hydrate phase. The host sediment grain size and the state of effective stress determine the hydrate morphology in sediments; this information can be used to significantly constrain estimates of the physical properties of...
Simulated effects of hydrologic, water quality, and land-use changes of the Lake Maumelle watershed, Arkansas, 2004–10
Rheannon M. Hart, W. Reed Green, Drew A. Westerman, James C. Petersen, Jeanne L. DeLanois
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5246
Lake Maumelle, located in central Arkansas northwest of the cities of Little Rock and North Little Rock, is one of two principal drinking-water supplies for the Little Rock, and North Little Rock, Arkansas, metropolitan areas. Lake Maumelle and the Maumelle River (its primary tributary) are more pristine than most other...
Shallow stratigraphic control on pockmark distribution in north temperate estuaries
Laura L. Brothers, Joseph T. Kelley, Daniel F. Belknap, Walter A. Barnhardt, Brian D. Andrews, Christine Legere, John E. Hughes Clarke
2012, Marine Geology (329-331) 34-45
Pockmark fields occur throughout northern North American temperate estuaries despite the absence of extensive thermogenic hydrocarbon deposits typically associated with pockmarks. In such settings, the origins of the gas and triggering mechanism(s) responsible for pockmark formation are not obvious. Nor is it known why pockmarks proliferate in this region but...
Degassing of Cl, F, Li and Be during extrusion and crystallization of the rhyolite dome at Volcán Chaitén, Chile during 2008 and 2009
Jacob B. Lowenstern, Heather Bleick, Jorge A. Vazquez, Jonathan M. Castro, Peter B. Larson
2012, Bulletin of Volcanology (74) 2303-2319
We investigated the distribution of Cl, F, Li, and Be in pumices, obsidians, and crystallized dome rocks at Chaitén volcano in 2008–2009 in order to explore the behavior of these elements during explosive and effusive volcanic activity. Electron and ion microprobe analyses of matrix and inclusion glasses from pumice, obsidian,...
Production and characterization of monoclonal antibodies to IgM of Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii)
Maureen K. Purcell, Erin S. Bromage, Jessica Silva, John D. Hansen, Samantha M. Badil, James C. Woodson, Paul K. Hershberger
2012, Fish and Shellfish Immunology (33) 552-558
Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) have a central role in the North Pacific ecosystem as a forage fish species and are natural reservoirs of several important finfish pathogens, including Viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV). Here, we report the identification of the gene encoding the immunoglobulin mu (IgM) heavy chain, as well...
Bird use of fields treated postharvest with two types of flooding in Tulare Basin, California
Joseph P. Fleskes, Daniel A. Skalos, Melissa A. Farinha
2012, Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management (3) 164-174
We surveyed birds on grain and non-grain fields in the Tulare Basin of California treated post-harvest with two types of flooding that varied in duration and depth of water applied (Flooded-type fields [FLD]: 1 week; Irrigated-type fields [IRG]: <1-15 cm water for <1 week at a...
Canada Basin revealed
David C. Mosher, John Shimeld, Deborah R. Hutchinson, D Chian, Nina Lebedeva-Ivanova, Ruth Jackson
2012, Conference Paper, Arctic Technology Conference: Challenges for today, opportunities for tomorrow
More than 15,000 line-km of new regional seismic reflection and refraction data in the western Arctic Ocean provide insights into the tectonic and sedimentologic history of Canada Basin, permitting development of new geologic understanding in one of Earth's last frontiers. These new data support a rotational opening model for southern...
Seasonal variability in the surface sediments of Mobile Bay, Alabama, recorded by geochemistry and foraminifera, 2009–2010
D.K. Umberger, L.E. Osterman, C.G. Smith, J. Frazier, K.A. Richwine
2012, Data Series 733
A study was undertaken in order to document and quantify recent environmental change in Mobile Bay, Alabama. The study was part of the Northern Gulf of Mexico (NGOM) Ecosystem Change and Hazard Susceptibility project, a regional project funded by the Coastal and Marine Geology Program to understand how natural forcings...
Estimation of speciated and total mercury dry deposition at monitoring locations in eastern and central North America
L. Zhang, P. Blanchard, D.A. Gay, E.M. Prestbo, M.R. Risch, D. Johnson, J. Narayan, R. Zsolway, T.M. Holsen, E. K. Miller, M.S. Castro, J.A. Graydon, Louis, J. Dalziel
2012, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (12) 4327-4340
Dry deposition of speciated mercury, i.e., gaseous oxidized mercury (GOM), particulate-bound mercury (PBM), and gaseous elemental mercury (GEM), was estimated for the year 2008–2009 at 19 monitoring locations in eastern and central North America. Dry deposition estimates were obtained by combining monitored two- to four-hourly speciated ambient concentrations with modeled...
Bats, mines, and citizen science in the Rockies: Volunteers make a difference in Colorado
Mark A. Hayes
2012, BATS Magazine (30) 10-11
Biologists at the Colorado Division of Wildlife faced a big problem back in 1990. They wanted to protect important bat roosts in the state’s abandoned mines, but first they had to find the bats. Colorado’s rich mining history had left more than 23,000 old mines scattered across the landscape, few...
The genetic structure of a relict population of wood frogs
Rick Scherer, Erin Muths, Barry Noon, Sara Oyler-McCance
2012, Conservation Genetics (13) 1521-1530
Habitat fragmentation and the associated reduction in connectivity between habitat patches are commonly cited causes of genetic differentiation and reduced genetic variation in animal populations. We used eight microsatellite markers to investigate genetic structure and levels of genetic diversity in a relict population of wood frogs (Lithobates sylvatica) in Rocky...
3-D reconstructions of subsurface Pleistocene basalt flows from paleomagnetic inclination data and 40Ar/39Ar ages in the southern part of the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho (USA)
Mary K. V. Hodges, Duane E. Champion, B. D. Turrin, C. C. Swisher III
2012, Conference Paper
The U. S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy, is mapping the distribution of basalt flows and sedimentary interbeds at the Idaho National Laboratory in three dimensions to provide data for refining numerical models of groundwater flow and contaminant transport in the eastern Snake River Plain...
Recreational trails as corridors for alien plants in the Rocky Mountains, USA
Floye H. Wells, William K. Lauenroth, John B. Bradford
2012, Western North American Naturalist (72) 507-533
Alien plant species often use areas of heavy human activity for habitat and dispersal. Roads and utility corridors have been shown to harbor more alien species than the surrounding vegetation and are therefore believed to contribute to alien plant persistence and spread. Recreational trails represent another corridor that could harbor...
