Local-area-enhanced, 2.5-meter resolution natural-color and color-infrared satellite-image mosaics of the Badakhshan mineral district in Afghanistan: Chapter F in Local-area-enhanced, high-resolution natural-color and color-infrared satellite-image mosaics of mineral districts in Afghanistan
Philip A. Davis, Scott A. Arko, Michelle L. Harbin
2012, Data Series 709-F
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...
Modeling future conservation of Hawaiian Honeycreepers by mosquito management and translocation of disease-tolerant Amakihi
Peter H. F. Hobbelen, Michael D. Samuel, Dennis Lapointe, Carter T. Atkinson
2012, PLoS ONE (7)
Avian malaria is an important cause of the decline of endemic Hawaiian honeycreepers. Because of the complexity of this disease system we used a computer model of avian malaria in forest birds to evaluate how two proposed conservation strategies: 1) reduction of habitat for mosquito larvae and 2) establishment of...
Environmental fate model for ultra-low-volume insecticide applications used for adult mosquito management
Jerome J. Schleier III, Robert K.D. Peterson, Kathryn M. Irvine, Lucy M. Marshall, David K. Weaver, Collin J. Preftakes
2012, Science of the Total Environment (438) 72-79
One of the more effective ways of managing high densities of adult mosquitoes that vector human and animal pathogens is ultra-low-volume (ULV) aerosol applications of insecticides. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency uses models that are not validated for ULV insecticide applications and exposure assumptions to perform their human and ecological...
Landscape consequences of natural gas extraction in Greene and Tioga Counties, Pennsylvania, 2004-2010
E.T. Slonecker, L.E. Milheim, C.M. Roig-Silva, G.B. Fisher
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1220
Increased demands for cleaner burning energy, coupled with the relatively recent technological advances in accessing unconventional hydrocarbon-rich geologic formations, have led to an intense effort to find and extract natural gas from various underground sources around the country. One of these sources, the Marcellus Shale, located in the Allegheny Plateau,...
A methodology for conducting national-scale alluvial diamond resource potential and production capacity assessments, with a focus on artisanal mining
Peter G. Chirico, Katherine C. Malpeli
2012, Fact Sheet 2012-3128
In May of 2000, a meeting was convened in Kimberley, South Africa, by representatives of the diamond industry and leaders of African governments to develop a certification process intended to assure that export shipments of rough diamonds were free of conflict concerns. Outcomes of the meeting were formally supported later...
Reference hydrologic networks II. Using reference hydrologic networks to assess climate-driven changes in streamflow
Donald H. Burn, Jamie Hannaford, Glenn A. Hodgkins, Paul H. Whitfield, Robin Thorne, Terry Marsh
2012, Hydrological Sciences Journal (57) 1-15
Reference hydrologic networks (RHNs) can play an important role in monitoring for changes in the hydrological regime related to climate variation and change. Currently, the literature concerning hydrological response to climate variations is complex and confounded by the combinations of many methods of analysis, wide variations in hydrology, and the...
Reference hydrologic networks I. The status and potential future directions of national reference hydrologic networks for detecting trends
Paul H. Whitfield, Donald H. Burn, Jamie Hannaford, Helene Higgins, Glenn A. Hodgkins, Terry Marsh, Ulrich Looser
2012, Hydrological Sciences Journal (57) 1-18
Identifying climate-driven trends in river flows on a global basis is hampered by a lack of long, quality time series data for rivers with relatively undisturbed regimes. This is a global problem compounded by the lack of support for essential long-term monitoring. Experience demonstrates that, with clear strategic objectives, and...
Summary of the reconnaissance investigation of the diamond resource potential and production capacity of Côte d’Ivoire
Peter G. Chirico, Katherine C. Malpeli
2012, Fact Sheet 2012-3130
This study presents the results of a multiyear effort to monitor the diamond mining activities of Côte d’Ivoire’s two main diamond regions, Séguéla and Tortiya. The innovative approach developed for this study integrates archival reports and maps, high-resolution satellite imagery, and terrain modeling to assess the diamond resource potential and...
Maps of estimated nitrate and arsenic concentrations in basin-fill aquifers of the southwestern United States
Kimberly R. Beisner, David W. Anning, Angela P. Paul, Tim S. McKinney, Jena M. Huntington, Laura M. Bexfield, Susan A. Thiros
2012, Scientific Investigations Map 3234
Human-health concerns and economic considerations associated with meeting drinking-water standards motivated a study of the vulnerability of basin-fill aquifers to nitrate contamination and arsenic enrichment in the southwestern United States. Statistical models were developed by using the random forest classifier algorithm to predict concentrations of nitrate and arsenic across a...
Summary of the diamond resource potential and production capacity assessment of Guinea
Peter G. Chirico, Katherine C. Malpeli
2012, Fact Sheet 2012-3129
In May of 2000, a meeting was convened in Kimberley, South Africa, by representatives of the diamond industry and leaders of African governments to develop a certification process intended to assure that export shipments of rough diamonds were free of conflict concerns. Outcomes of the meeting were formally supported later...
Understanding pesticides in California's Delta
Kathryn Kuivila, James L. Orlando
2012, Fact Sheet 2012-3132
The Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta (Delta) is the hub of California’s water system and also an important habitat for imperiled fish and wildlife. Aquatic organisms are exposed to mixtures of pesticides that flow through the maze of Delta water channels from sources including agricultural, landscape, and urban pest-control applications. While...
Phenology and duration of remigial moult in Surf Scoters (Melanitta perspicillata) and White-winged Scoters (Melanitta fusca) on the Pacific coast of North America
Rian D. Dickson, Daniel Esler, Jerry W. Hupp, E.M. Anderson, J.R. Evenson, J. Barrett
2012, Canadian Journal of Zoology (90) 932-944
By quantifying phenology and duration of remigial moult in Surf Scoters (Melanitta perspicillata (L., 1758)) and White-winged Scoters (Melanitta fusca (L., 1758)), we tested whether timing of moult is dictated by temporal optima or constraints. Scoters (n = 3481) were captured during moult in Alaska, British Columbia, and Washington, and...
Evaluation of streambed scour at bridges over tidal waterways in Alaska
Jeffrey S. Conaway, Paul V. Schauer
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5245
The potential for streambed scour was evaluated at 41 bridges that cross tidal waterways in Alaska. These bridges are subject to several coastal and riverine processes that have the potential, individually or in combination, to induce streambed scour or to damage the structure or adjacent channel. The proximity of a...
Tree mortality patterns following prescribed fire for Pinus and Abies across the southwestern United States
Philip J. van Mantgem, Jonathan C. B. Nesmith, MaryBeth Keifer, Matthew Brooks
2012, Forest Ecology and Management (289) 463-469
The reintroduction of fire to historically fire-prone forests has been repeatedly shown to reduce understory fuels and promote resistance to high severity fire. However, there is concern that prescribed fire may also have unintended consequences, such as high rates of mortality for large trees and fire-tolerant Pinus species. To test...
Local and landscape associations between wintering dabbling ducks and wetland complexes in Mississippi
Aaron T. Pearse, Richard M. Kaminski, Kenneth J. Reinecke, Stephen J. Dinsmore
2012, Wetlands (32) 859-869
Landscape features influence distribution of waterbirds throughout their annual cycle. A conceptual model, the wetland habitat complex, may be useful in conservation of wetland habitats for dabbling ducks (Anatini). The foundation of this conceptual model is that ducks seek complexes of wetlands containing diverse resources to meet dynamic...
Modeling a thick unsaturated zone at San Gorgonio Pass, California: lessons learned after five years of artificial recharge
Alan L. Flint, Kevin M. Ellett, Allen H. Christensen, Peter Martin
2012, Vadose Zone Journal (11)
The information flow among the tasks of framework assessment, numerical modeling, model forecasting and hind casting, and system-performance monitoring is illustrated. Results provide an understanding of artificial recharge in high-altitude desert settings where large vertical distances may separate application ponds from their target aquifers.Approximately 3.8 million cubic meters of surface...
Effects of urban development on stream ecosystems in nine metropolitan study areas across the United States
James F. Coles, Gerard McMahon, Amanda H. Bell, Larry R. Brown, Faith A. Fitzpatrick, Barbara C. Scudder Eikenberry, Michael D. Woodside, Thomas F. Cuffney, Wade L. Bryant Jr., Karen Cappiella, Lisa Fraley-McNeal, William P. Stack
2012, Circular 1373
Urban development is an important agent of environmental change in the United States. The urban footprint on the American landscape has expanded during a century and a half of almost continuous development. Eighty percent of Americans now live in metropolitan areas, and the advantages and challenges of living in these...
Concentrations, loads, and yields of organic carbon in streams of agricultural watersheds
Scott Kronholm, Paul Capel
2012, Journal of Environmental Quality (41) 1874-1883
Carbon is cycled to and from large reservoirs in the atmosphere, on land, and in the ocean. Movement of organic carbon from the terrestrial reservoir to the ocean plays an important role in the global cycling of carbon. The transition from natural to agricultural vegetation can change the storage and...
Groundwater quality in West Virginia, 1993-2008
Douglas B. Chambers, Mark D. Kozar, Jeremy S. White, Katherine S. Paybins
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5186
Approximately 42 percent of all West Virginians rely on groundwater for their domestic water supply. However, prior to 2008, the quality of the West Virginia’s groundwater resource was largely unknown. The need for a statewide assessment of groundwater quality prompted the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with West Virginia...
Assessment of undiscovered petroleum resources of the Amerasia Basin Petroleum Province
David W. Houseknecht, Kenneth J. Bird, Christopher P. Garrity
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5146
The Amerasia Basin Petroleum Province encompasses the Canada Basin and the sediment prisms along the Alaska and Canada margins, outboard from basinward margins (hingelines) of the rift shoulders that formed during extensional opening of the Canada Basin. The province includes the Mackenzie delta and slope, the outer shelves and marine...
Disseminated toxoplasmosis in Antillean manatees Trichechus manatus manatus from Puerto Rico
Gregory D. Bossart, Antonio A. Mignucci-Ginannoni, Antonio L. Rivera-Guzman, Nilda M. Jimenez-Marrero, Alvin C. Camus, Robert K. Bonde, Jitender P. Dubey, John S. Reif
2012, Diseases of Aquatic Organisms (101) 139-144
Necropsies were conducted on 4 Antillean manatees Trichechus manatus manatus that were stranded in single events on the coastal beaches of Puerto Rico from August 2010 to August 2011. Three manatees were emaciated and the gastrointestinal tracts were devoid of digesta. Microscopically, all manatees had severe widespread inflammatory lesions of...
Effects of catastrophic floods and debris flows on the sediment retention structure, North Fork Toutle River, Washington
Roger P. Denlinger
2012, Open-File Report 2011-1317
The eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980 produced a debris avalanche that flowed down the upper reaches of the North Fork Toutle River in southwestern Washington, clogging this drainage with sediment. In response to continuous anomalously high sediment flux into the Toutle and Cowlitz Rivers resulting from this avalanche...
Assessment of undiscovered petroleum resources of the Arctic Alaska Petroleum Province
David W. Houseknecht, Kenneth J. Bird, Christopher P. Garrity
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5147
The Arctic Alaska Petroleum Province encompasses all lands and adjacent continental shelf areas north of the Brooks Range-Herald arch tectonic belts and south of the northern (outboard) margin of the Alaska rift shoulder. Even though only a small part is thoroughly explored, it is one of the most prolific petroleum...
County-level estimates of nitrogen and phosphorus from commercial fertilizer for the Conterminous United States, 1987-2006
Jo Ann M. Gronberg, Norman E. Spahr
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5207
The U.S. Geological Survey’s National Water-Quality Assessment program requires nutrient input for analysis of the national and regional assessment of water quality. Detailed information on nutrient inputs to the environment are needed to understand and address the many serious problems that arise from excess nutrients in the streams and groundwater...
Dissolved organic matter composition of winter flow in the Yukon River basin: Implications of permafrost thaw and increased groundwater discharge
Jonathan A. O’Donnell, George R. Aiken, Michelle Ann Walvoord, Kenna D. Butler
2012, Global Biogeochemical Cycles (26) 1-18
Groundwater discharge to rivers has increased in recent decades across the circumpolar region and has been attributed to thawing permafrost in arctic and subarctic watersheds. Permafrost-driven changes in groundwater discharge will alter the flux of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in rivers, yet little is known about the chemical composition and...
