Groundwater geochemical and selected volatile organic compound data, Operable Unit 1, Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Division Keyport, Washington, June 2011
Raegan L. Huffman, L.M. Frans
2012, Data Series 731
Previous investigations indicate that concentrations of chlorinated volatile organic compounds are substantial in groundwater beneath the 9-acre former landfill at Operable Unit 1, Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Division Keyport, Washington. Phytoremediation combined with ongoing natural attenuation processes was the preferred remedy selected by the U.S. Navy, as specified in the...
A multi-metric assessment of environmental contaminant exposure and effects in an urbanized reach of the Charles River near Watertown, Massachusetts
Stephen B. Smith, Patrick J. Anderson, Paul C. Baumann, Lawrence R. DeWeese, Steven L. Goodbred, James J. Coyle, David S. Smith
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1195
The Charles River Project provided an opportunity to simultaneously deploy a combination of biomonitoring techniques routinely used by the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality Assessment Program, the Biomonitoring of Environmental Status and Trends Project, and the Contaminant Biology Program at an urban site suspected to be contaminated with polycyclic...
Characterizing the proposed geologic repository for high-level radioactive waste at Yucca Mountain, Nevada: hydrology and geochemistry
John S. Stuckless, Robert A. Levich
2012, Book chapter, Hydrology and geochemistry of Yucca Mountain and vicinity, Southern Nevada and California
This hydrology and geochemistry volume is a companion volume to the 2007 Geological Society of America Memoir 199, The Geology and Climatology of Yucca Mountain and Vicinity, Southern Nevada and California, edited by Stuckless and Levich. The work in both volumes was originally reported in the U.S. Department of Energy...
Hydrology of the unsaturated zone, Yucca Mountain, Nevada
Gary D. LeCain, John S. Stuckless
2012, Book chapter, Hydrology and geochemistry of Yucca Mountain and vicinity, Southern Nevada and California
The unsaturated zone at Yucca Mountain was investigated as a possible site for the nation's first high-level nuclear waste repository. Scientific investigations included infiltration studies, matrix properties testing, borehole testing and monitoring, underground excavation and testing, and the development of conceptual and numerical models of the hydrologic processes at Yucca...
River turbidity and sediment loads during dam removal
Jonathan A. Warrick, Jeffrey J. Duda, Christopher S. Magirl, Chris A. Curran
2012, Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union (93) 425-426
Dam decommissioning has become an important means for removing unsafe or obsolete dams and for restoring natural fluvial processes, including discharge regimes, sediment transport, and ecosystem connectivity [Doyle et al., 2003]. The largest dam-removal project in history began in September 2011 on the Elwha River of Washington State (Figure 1a)....
The effects of wildfire on the sediment yield of a coastal California watershed
J.A. Warrick, J.A. Hatten, G.B. Pasternack, A.B. Gray, M.A. Goni, R. A. Wheatcroft
2012, Geological Society of America Bulletin
The occurrence of two wildfires separated by 31 yr in the chaparral-dominated Arroyo Seco watershed (293 km) of California provides a unique opportunity to evaluate the effects of wildfire on suspended-sediment yield. Here, we compile discharge and suspended-sediment sampling data from before and after the fires and show that the...
Computing daily mean streamflow at ungaged locations in Iowa by using the Flow Anywhere and Flow Duration Curve Transfer statistical methods
S. Mike Linhart, Jon F. Nania, Curtis L. Sanders Jr., Stacey A. Archfield
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5232
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) maintains approximately 148 real-time streamgages in Iowa for which daily mean streamflow information is available, but daily mean streamflow data commonly are needed at locations where no streamgages are present. Therefore, the USGS conducted a study as part of a larger project in cooperation with...
Stratiform chromite deposit model
Ruth F. Schulte, Ryan D. Taylor, Nadine M. Piatak, Robert R. Seal II
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5070-E
A new descriptive stratiform chromite deposit model was prepared which will provide a framework for understanding the characteristics of stratiform chromite deposits worldwide. Previous stratiform chromite deposit models developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) have been referred to as Bushveld chromium, because the Bushveld Complex in South Africa is...
Large-scale splay faults on a strike-slip fault system: The Yakima Folds, Washington State
Thomas L. Pratt
2012, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (13)
The Yakima Folds (YF) comprise anticlines above reverse faults cutting flows of the Miocene Columbia River Basalt Group of central Washington State. The YF are bisected by the ~1100-km-long Olympic-Wallowa Lineament (OWL), which is an alignment of topographic features including known faults. There is considerable debate about the...
Critique on the use of the standardized avian acute oral toxicity test for first generation anticoagulant rodenticides
Nimish B. Vyas, Barnett A. Rattner
2012, Human and Ecological Risk Assessment (18) 1069-1077
Avian risk assessments for rodenticides are often driven by the results of standardized acute oral toxicity tests without regards to a toxicant's mode of action and time course of adverse effects. First generation anticoagulant rodenticides (FGARs) generally require multiple feedings over several days to achieve a threshold concentration in tissue...
Ecotoxicology of mercury in fish and wildlife: Recent advances
Anton M. Scheuhammer, Niladri Basu, David C. Evers, Gary Heinz, Mark B. Sandheinrich, Michael S. Bank
Michael S. Bank, editor(s)
2012, Book chapter, Mercury in the environment: Pattern and process
A number of recent studies have documented subtle, yet potentially important effects of mercury on behavior, neurochemistry, and endocrine function in fish and wildlife at currently realistic levels of environmental exposure. Current levels of environmental methylmercury exposure are sufficient to cause significant biological impairment, both in individuals and in whole...
Occupancy in continuous habitat
Murray G. Efford, Deanna K. Dawson
2012, Ecosphere (3) 1-15
The probability that a site has at least one individual of a species ('occupancy') has come to be widely used as a state variable for animal population monitoring. The available statistical theory for estimation when detection is imperfect applies particularly to habitat patches or islands, although it is also used...
Hybridization among Arctic white-headed gulls (Larus spp.) obscures the genetic legacy of the Pleistocene
Sarah A. Sonsthagen, R. Terry Chesser, Douglas A. Bell, Carla J. Dove
2012, Ecology and Evolution (2) 1278-1295
We studied the influence of glacial oscillations on the genetic structure of seven species of white-headed gull that breed at high latitudes (Larus argentatus, L. canus, L. glaucescens, L. glaucoides, L. hyperboreus, L. schistisagus, and L. thayeri). We evaluated localities hypothesized as ice-free areas or glacial refugia in other Arctic...
Completion summary for borehole USGS 136 near the Advanced Test Reactor Complex, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho
Brian V. Twining, Roy C. Bartholomay, Mary K.V. Hodges
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5230
In 2011, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy, cored and completed borehole USGS 136 for stratigraphic framework analyses and long-term groundwater monitoring of the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer at the Idaho National Laboratory. The borehole was initially cored to a depth of 1,048...
Economic filters for evaluating porphyry copper deposit resource assessments using grade-tonnage deposit models, with examples from the U.S. Geological Survey global mineral resource assessment: Chapter H in Global mineral resource assessment
Gilpin R. Robinson Jr., W. David Menzie
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5090-H
An analysis of the amount and location of undiscovered mineral resources that are likely to be economically recoverable is important for assessing the long-term adequacy and availability of mineral supplies. This requires an economic evaluation of estimates of undiscovered resources generated by traditional resource assessments (Singer and Menzie, 2010). In...
Development of invertebrate community indexes of stream quality for the islands of Maui and Oahu, Hawaii
Reuben H. Wolff
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5055
In 2009-10 the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) collected physical habitat information and benthic macroinvertebrates at 40 wadeable sites on 25 perennial streams on the Island of Maui, Hawaiʻi, to evaluate the relations between the macroinvertebrate assemblages and environmental characteristics and to develop a multimetric invertebrate community index (ICI) that could...
Studies by the U.S. Geological Survey in Alaska, 2011
Julie A. Dumoulin, Cynthia Dusel-Bacon
2012, Professional Paper 1795
The collection of papers that follow continues the series of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) investigative reports in Alaska under the broad umbrella of the geologic sciences. This series represents new and sometimes-preliminary findings that are of interest to Earth scientists in academia, government, and industry; to land and resource managers;...
Geologic framework for the national assessment of carbon dioxide storage resources: Hanna, Laramie, and Shirley Basins, Wyoming: Chapter C in Geologic framework for the national assessment of carbon dioxide storage resources
Matthew D. Merrill, Jacob A. Covault, William H. Craddock, Ernie R. Slucher, Peter D. Warwick, Madalyn S. Blondes, Mayur A. Gosai, P.A. Freeman, Steven M. Cahan, Celeste D. Lohr
Peter D. Warwick, M.D. Corum, editor(s)
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1024-C
The 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act (Public Law 110-140) directs the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to conduct a national assessment of potential geologic storage resources for carbon dioxide (CO2). The methodology used for the national CO2 assessment is non-economic and intended to be used at regional to subbasinal scales....
Geologic map of the Cook Inlet region, Alaska, including parts of the Talkeetna, Talkeetna Mountains, Tyonek, Anchorage, Lake Clark, Kenai, Seward, Iliamna, Seldovia, Mount Katmai, and Afognak 1:250,000-scale quadrangles
Frederic H. Wilson, Chad P. Hults, Henry R. Schmoll, Peter J. Haeussler, Jeanine M. Schmidt, Lynn A. Yehle, Keith A. Labay
2012, Scientific Investigations Map 3153
In 1976, L.B. Magoon, W.L. Adkinson, and R.M. Egbert published a major geologic map of the Cook Inlet region, which has served well as a compilation of existing information and a guide for future research and mapping. The map in this report updates Magoon and others (1976) and incorporates new...
Streamflow depletion by wells--Understanding and managing the effects of groundwater pumping on streamflow
Paul M. Barlow, Stanley A. Leake
2012, Circular 1376
Groundwater is an important source of water for many human needs, including public supply, agriculture, and industry. With the development of any natural resource, however, adverse consequences may be associated with its use. One of the primary concerns related to the development of groundwater resources is the effect of groundwater...
Local-area-enhanced, high-resolution natural-color and color-infrared satellite-image mosaics of mineral districts in Afghanistan
Philip A. Davis
2012, Data Series 709
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...
Breeding colonies of least terns (Sternula antillarum) in northern Sonora, Mexico, 2006-2008
Alyssa Rosemartin, Charles van Riper III
2012, Southwestern Naturalist (57) 342-345
We document distribution of breeding least terns (Sternula antillarum) in northern Sonora, Mexico, 2006-2008. We report breeding activity at six sites with active colonies, including three previously undocumented colonies....
Mapped versus actual burned area within wildfire perimeters: Characterizing the unburned
Carl H Key, James Lutz, Carl H. Key, Jonathan Kane, Jan W Van Wagtendonk
2012, Forest Ecology and Management (286) 38-47
For decades, wildfire studies have utilized fire occurrence as the primary data source for investigating the causes and effects of wildfire on the landscape. Fire occurrence data fall primarily into two categories: ignition points and perimeter polygons which are used to calculate a ‘burned...
Importance of tributary streams for rainbow trout reproduction: insights from a small stream in Georgia and a bi-genomic approach
D. Lee, Justin B. Lack, Ronald A. Van Den Bussche, James M. Long
2012, River Research and Applications (28) 1587-1593
Tributaries of tailwater fisheries in the southeastern USA have been used for spawning by stocked rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), but their importance may have been underestimated using traditional fish survey methods such as electrofishing and redd counts. We used a bi-genomic approach, mitochondrial DNA sequences and nuclear microsatellite loci, to...
The shallow-water fish assemblage of Isla del Coco National Park, Costa Rica: Structure and patterns in an isolated, predator-dominated ecosystem
Alan M. Friedlander, Brian J. Zgliczynski, Enric Ballesteros, Octavio Aburto-Oropeza, Allan Bolanos, Enric Sala
2012, Revista de Biología Tropical: International Journal of Tropical Biology and Conservation (60) 321-338
Fishes at Isla del Coco National Park, Costa Rica, were surveyed as part of a larger scientific expedition to the area in September 2009. The average total biomass of nearshore fishes was 7.8 tonnes per ha, among the largest observed in the tropics, with apex predators such as sharks, jacks,...
