Volcano hazards assessment for the Lassen region, northern California
Michael A. Clynne, Joel E. Robinson, Manuel Nathenson, L.J. Patrick Muffler
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5176-A
The Lassen region of the southernmost Cascade Range is an active volcanic area. At least 70 eruptions have occurred in the past 100,000 years, including 3 in the past 1,000 years, most recently in 1915. The record of past eruptions and the present state of the underlying magmatic and hydrothermal...
Effects of a non-native biocontrol weevil, Larinus planus, and other emerging threats on populations of the federally threatened Pitcher's thistle, Cirsium pitcheri
Kayri Havens, Claudia L. Jolls, Julie E. Marik, Pati Vitt, A. Kathryn McEachern, Darcy Kind
2012, Biological Conservation 202-211
Larinus planus Frabicius (Curculionidae), is a seed-eating weevil that was inadvertently introduced into the US and was subsequently distributed in the US and Canada for the control of noxious thistle species of rangelands. It has been detected recently in the federally threatened Pitcher's thistle (Cirsium pitcheri). We assayed weevil damage...
Lahar hazard zones for eruption-generated lahars in the Lassen Volcanic Center, California
Joel E. Robinson, Michael A. Clynne
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5176-C
Lahar deposits are found in drainages that head on or near Lassen Peak in northern California, demonstrating that these valleys are susceptible to future lahars. In general, lahars are uncommon in the Lassen region. Lassen Peak's lack of large perennial snowfields and glaciers limits its potential for lahar development, with...
Presence of selected chemicals of emerging concern in water and bottom sediment from the St. Louis River, St. Louis Bay, and Superior Bay, Minnesota and Wisconsin, 2010
Victoria G. Christensen, Kathy Lee, Kristen A. Kieta, Sarah M. Elliott
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5184
The St. Louis Bay of Lake Superior receives substantial urban runoff, wastewater treatment plant effluent, and industrial effluent. In 1987, the International Joint Commission designated the St. Louis Bay portion of the lower St. Louis River as one of the Great Lakes Areas of Concern. Concerns exist about the potential...
Water quality, hydrology, and simulated response to changes in phosphorus loading of Mercer Lake, Iron County, Wisconsin, with special emphasis on the effects of wastewater discharges
Dale M. Robertson, Herbert S. Garn, William J. Rose, Paul F. Juckem, Paul C. Reneau
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5134
Mercer Lake is a relatively shallow drainage lake in north-central Wisconsin. The area near the lake has gone through many changes over the past century, including urbanization and industrial development. To try to improve the water quality of the lake, actions have been taken, such as removal of the lumber...
Geogenic sources of benzene in aquifers used for public supply, California
Matthew K. Landon, Kenneth Belitz
2012, Environmental Science & Technology (46) 8689-8697
Statistical evaluation of two large statewide data sets from the California State Water Board's Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment Program (1973 wells) and the California Department of Public Health (12417 wells) reveals that benzene occurs infrequently (1.7%) and at generally low concentrations (median detected concentration of 0.024 μg/L) in groundwater...
Improving scientific communication through the use of U.S. Geological Survey Video Podcasts
Michelle C. Moorman, Douglas A. Harned, Gerard McMahon, Kara Capelli
2012, Conference Paper, Rethinking Protected Areas in a Changing World
It is crucial that scientist find innovative ways of effectively communicating research to resource managers, public officials, and the general public. New technologies, such as video podcasts, are being used as an outreach tool to communicate results from the U.S Geological Survey (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) program. The purpose...
Fault geometry and cumulative offsets in the central Coast Ranges, California: Evidence for northward increasing slip along the San Gregorio-San Simeon-Hosgri fault
V.E. Langenheim, R.C. Jachens, R. W. Graymer, J.P. Colgan, C. M. Wentworth, R. G. Stanley
2012, Lithosphere (5) 29-48
Estimates of the dip, depth extent, and amount of cumulative displacement along the major faults in the central California Coast Ranges are controversial. We use detailed aeromagnetic data to estimate these parameters for the San Gregorio–San Simeon–Hosgri and other faults. The recently acquired aeromagnetic data provide an areally consistent data...
An assessment of radon in groundwater in New York State
Stephen B. Shaw, David A.V. Eckhardt
2012, Health Physics - The Safety Radiation Journal (103) 311-316
Abstract: A set of 317 samples collected from wells throughout New York State (excluding Long Island) from 2003 through 2008 was used to assess the distribution of radon gas in drinking water. Previous studies have documented high concentrations of radon in groundwater from granitic and metamorphic bedrock, but there have...
Understanding beach health throughout the Great Lakes -- continuing research
Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey
2012, Fact Sheet 2012-3113
The overall mission of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Beach Health Initiative is to provide science-based information and methods that will allow beach managers to more accurately make beach closure and advisory decisions, understand the sources and physical processes affecting beach contaminants, and understand how science-based information can be used to...
Sources of fecal indicator bacteria to groundwater, Malibu Lagoon and the near-shore ocean, Malibu, California, USA
John A. Izbicki, Peter W. Swarzenski, Carmen A. Burton, Laurie Van De Werfhorst, Patricia A. Holden, Eric A. Dubinsky
2012, Annals of Environmental Science (6)
Onsite wastewater treatment systems (OWTS) used to treat residential and commercial sewage near Malibu, California have been implicated as a possible source of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) to Malibu Lagoon and the near-shore ocean. For this to occur, treated wastewater must first move through groundwater before discharging to the Lagoon...
Spatial and temporal trends in runoff at long-term streamgages within and near the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
Karen C. Rice, Robert M. Hirsch
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5151
Long-term streamflow data within the Chesapeake Bay watershed and surrounding area were analyzed in an attempt to identify trends in streamflow. Data from 30 streamgages near and within the Chesapeake Bay watershed were selected from 1930 through 2010 for analysis. Streamflow data were converted to runoff and trend slopes in...
Preliminary assessment of water chemistry related to groundwater flooding in Wawarsing, New York, 2009-11
Craig J. Brown, David A. Eckhardt, Frederick Stumm, Anthony Chu
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5144
Water-quality samples collected in an area prone to groundwater flooding in Wawarsing, New York, were analyzed and assessed to better understand the hydrologic system and to aid in the assessment of contributing water sources. Above average rainfall over the past decade, and the presence of a pressurized water tunnel that...
Assessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources of the Arabian Peninsula and Zagros Fold Belt, 2012
Janet K. Pitman, Christopher J. Schenk, Michael E. Brownfield, Ronald R. Charpentier, Troy A. Cook, Timothy R. Klett, Richard M. Pollastro
2012, Fact Sheet 2012-3115
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated means of 86 billion barrels of oil and 336 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered natural gas resources in the Arabian Peninsula and Zagros Fold Belt. The USGS assessed the potential for undiscovered conventional oil and gas accumulations within the Arabian...
Estimated probabilities and volumes of postwildfire debris flows—A prewildfire evaluation for the Pikes Peak area, El Paso and Teller Counties, Colorado
John G. Elliott, Barbara C. Ruddy, Kristine L. Verdin, Keelin R. Schaffrath
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5104
Debris flows are fast-moving, high-density slurries of water, sediment, and debris that can have enormous destructive power. Although debris flows, triggered by intense rainfall or rapid snowmelt on steep hillsides covered with erodible material, are a common geomorphic process in some unburned areas, a wildfire can transform conditions in a...
Modelling ecological flow regime: an example from the Tennessee and Cumberland River basins
Rodney R. Knight, W. Scott Gain, William J. Wolfe
2012, Ecohydrology (5) 613-627
Predictive equations were developed for 19 ecologically relevant streamflow characteristics within five major groups of flow variables (magnitude, ratio, frequency, variability, and date) for use in the Tennessee and Cumberland River basins using stepbackward regression. Basin characteristics explain 50% or more of the variation for 12 of the 19 equations....
Seeing the light: the effects of particles, dissolved materials, and temperature on in situ measurements of DOM fluorescence in rivers and streams
Bryan D. Downing, Brian A. Pellerin, Brian A. Bergamaschi, John Franco Saraceno, Tamara E.C. Kraus
2012, Limnology and Oceanography: Methods (10) 767-775
Field-deployable sensors designed to continuously measure the fluorescence of colored dissolved organic matter (FDOM) in situ are of growing interest. However, the ability to make FDOM measurements that are comparable across sites and over time requires a clear understanding of how instrument characteristics and environmental conditions affect the measurements. In...
Movement patterns, habitat use, and survival of Lahontan cutthroat trout in the Truckee River
Alexander V. Alexiades, Mary M. Peacock, Robert K. Al-Chokhachy
2012, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (32) 974-983
Habitat fragmentation, hybridization, and competition with nonnative salmonids are viewed as major threats to Lahontan cutthroat trout Oncorhynchus clarkii henshawi. Understanding Lahontan cutthroat trout behavior and survival is a necessary step in the reintroduction and establishment of naturally reproducing populations of Lahontan cutthroat trout. We used weekly radiotelemetry monitoring to...
Fault healing promotes high-frequency earthquakes in laboratory experiments and on natural faults
Gregory C. McLaskey, Amanda M. Thomas, Steven D. Glaser, Robert M. Nadeau
2012, Nature (491) 101-104
Faults strengthen or heal with time in stationary contact and this healing may be an essential ingredient for the generation of earthquakes. In the laboratory, healing is thought to be the result of thermally activated mechanisms that weld together micrometre-sized asperity contacts on the fault surface, but the relationship...
Rapid acceleration leads to rapid weakening in earthquake-like laboratory experiments
Jefferson C. Chang, David A. Lockner, Z. Reches
2012, Science (338) 101-105
After nucleation, a large earthquake propagates as an expanding rupture front along a fault. This front activates countless fault patches that slip by consuming energy stored in Earth’s crust. We simulated the slip of a fault patch by rapidly loading an experimental fault with energy stored in a spinning flywheel....
Gauging state-level and user group views of oyster reef restoration activities in the northern Gulf of Mexico
Megan K. LaPeyre, Ashby Nix, Luke Laborde, Bryan P. Piazza
2012, Ocean and Coastal Management (67) 1-8
Successful oyster reef restoration, like many conservation challenges, requires not only biological understanding of the resource, but also stakeholder cooperation and political support. To measure perceptions of oyster reef restoration activities and priorities for future restoration along the northern Gulf of Mexico coast, a survey of 1500 individuals representing 4...
David L. Parkhurst as the recipient of the 2012 O.E. Meinzer Award of the Hydrogeology Division of the Geological Society of America
Pierre D. Glynn
2012, GSA Hydrogeology Newsletter
Describes the impact of USGS scientist David Parkhurst's influential contributions to the fields of aqueous geochemistry and hydrogeology. Parkhurst is the recipient of the 2012 O.E. Meinzer award of the Geological Society of America's Hydrogeology Division....
Direct geoelectrical evidence of mass transfer at the laboratory scale
Ryan D. Swanson, Kamini Singha, Frederick D. Day-Lewis, Andrew Binley, Kristina Keating, Roy Haggerty
2012, Water Resources Research (48)
Previous field-scale experimental data and numerical modeling suggest that the dual-domain mass transfer (DDMT) of electrolytic tracers has an observable geoelectrical signature. Here we present controlled laboratory experiments confirming the electrical signature of DDMT and demonstrate the use of time-lapse electrical measurements in conjunction with concentration measurements to estimate the...
Plant toxins and trophic cascades alter fire regime and succession on a boral forest landscape
Zhilan Feng, Jorge A. Alfaro-Murillo, Donald L. DeAngelis, Jennifer Schmidt, Matthew Barga, Yiqiang Zheng, Muhammad Hanis B. Ahmad Tamrin, Mark Olson, Tim Glaser, Knut Kielland, F. Stuart Chapin III, John Bryant
2012, Ecological Modelling (244) 79-92
Two models were integrated in order to study the effect of plant toxicity and a trophic cascade on forest succession and fire patterns across a boreal landscape in central Alaska. One of the models, ALFRESCO, is a cellular automata model that stochastically simulates transitions from spruce dominated 1 km2 spatial...
A test for the relative strength of maternal and stock effects in spring Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) from two different hatcheries (Study site: Warm Springs Hatchery; Stocks: Warm Springs Hatchery and Carson Hatchery; Year class: 1993)
Lisa A. Wetzel, Stephen P. Rubin, Reginald R. Reisenbichler, Karl D. Stenberg
Stephen P. Rubin, Reginald R. Reisenbichler, Lisa A. Wetzel, Michael C. Hayes, editor(s)
2012, Book chapter, Genetic differences in growth, migration, and survival between hatchery and wild steelhead and Chinook salmon: Final report. Performance period: June 1991 to December 2005
An experiment was undertaken to determine the relative strength of maternal and stock effects in Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) reared in a common environment, as a companion study to our investigation of hatchery and wild Chinook salmon. Pure-strain and reciprocal crosses were made between two hatchery stocks (Carson and Warm...
