Cobalt mineral exploration and supply from 1995 through 2013
David R. Wilburn
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5084
The global mining industry has invested a large amount of capital in mineral exploration and development over the past 15 years in an effort to ensure that sufficient resources are available to meet future increases in demand for minerals. Exploration data have been used to identify specific sites where this...
The science of trail surveys: Recreation ecology provides new tools for managing wilderness trails
Jeffrey L. Marion, Jeremy F. Wimpey, Logan O. Park
2011, Park Science (28)
Recreation ecology examines the effects of recreation on protected area ecosystems. One core focus of recreation ecology research is trail science, including the development of efficient protocols to assess and monitor the type and severity of resource impacts, analyses to improve knowledge of factors that influence trail conditions, and studies...
Physical and chemical characteristics including total and geochemical forms of phosphorus in sediment from the top 30 centimeters of cores collected in October 2006 at 26 sites in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon
Nancy S. Simon, Sarah N. Ingle
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1168
μThis study of phosphorus (P) cycling in eutrophic Upper Klamath Lake (UKL), Oregon, was conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Lakebed sediments from the upper 30 centimeters (cm) of cores collected from 26 sites were characterized. Cores were sampled at 0.5, 1.5,...
Environmental settings of streams sampled for mercury in New York and South Carolina, 2005-09
Barbara C. Scudder Eikenberry, Karen Riva-Murray, Martyn J. Smith, Paul M. Bradley, Daniel T. Button, Jimmy M. Clark, Douglas A. Burns, Celeste A. Journey
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1318
This report summarizes the environmental settings of streams in New York and South Carolina, where the U.S. Geological Survey completed detailed investigations during 2005-09 into factors contributing to mercury bioaccumulation in top-predator fish and other stream organisms. Descriptions of location, land use/land cover, climate, precipitation, atmospheric deposition, hydrology, water temperature,...
Stratigraphy and depositional environments of the upper Pleistocene Chemehuevi Formation along the lower Colorado River
Daniel V. Malmon, Keith A. Howard, P. Kyle House, Scott C. Lundstrom, Philip A. Pearthree, Andrei M. Sarna-Wojcicki, Elmira Wan, David B. Wahl
2011, Professional Paper 1786
The Chemehuevi Formation forms a conspicuous, widespread, and correlative set of nonmarine sediments lining the valleys of the Colorado River and several of its larger tributaries in the Basin and Range geologic province. These sediments have been examined by geologists since J. S. Newberry visited the region in 1857 and...
Triggered surface slips in southern California associated with the 2010 El Mayor-Cucapah, Baja California, Mexico, earthquake
Michael J. Rymer, Jerome A. Treiman, Katherine J. Kendrick, James J. Lienkaemper, Ray J. Weldon, Roger G. Bilham, Meng Wei, Eric J. Fielding, Janis L. Hernandez, Brian Olson, Pamela J. Irvine, Nichole Knepprath, Robert R. Sickler, Xiaopeng Tong, Martin E. Siem
2011, Open-File Report 2010-1333
The April 4, 2010 (Mw7.2), El Mayor-Cucapah, Baja California, Mexico, earthquake is the strongest earthquake to shake the Salton Trough area since the 1992 (Mw7.3) Landers earthquake. Similar to the Landers event, ground-surface fracturing occurred on multiple faults in the trough. However, the 2010 event triggered surface slip on more...
Demographic consequences of migratory stopover: Linking red knot survival to horseshoe crab spawning abundance
Conor P. McGowan, James E. Hines, James D. Nichols, James E. Lyons, David Smith, Kevin S. Kalasz, Lawrence J. Niles, Amanda D. Dey, Nigel A. Clark, Philip W. Atkinson, Clive D.T. Minton, William Kendall
2011, Ecosphere (2)
Understanding how events during one period of the annual cycle carry over to affect survival and other fitness components in other periods is essential to understanding migratory bird demography and conservation needs. Previous research has suggested that western Atlantic red knot (Calidris canutus rufa) populations are greatly affected by horseshoe...
Discontinuous hindcast simulations of estuarine bathymetric change: A case study from Suisun Bay, California
Neil K. Ganju, Bruce E. Jaffe, David H. Schoellhamer
2011, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science (93) 142-150
Simulations of estuarine bathymetric change over decadal timescales require methods for idealization and reduction of forcing data and boundary conditions. Continuous simulations are hampered by computational and data limitations and results are rarely evaluated with observed bathymetric change data. Bathymetric change data for Suisun Bay, California span the 1867–1990 period...
Biomarker chemistry and flux quantification methods for natural petroleum seeps and produced oils, offshore southern California
T.D. Lorenson, Ira Leifer, Florence L. Wong, Robert J. Rosenbauer, Pamela L. Campbell, Angela Lam, Frances D. Hostettler, Jens Greinert, David P. Finlayson, Eliza S. Bradley, Bruce P. Luyendyk
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5210
Sustained, natural oil seepage from the seafloor is common off southern California, and is of great interest to resource managers, who are tasked with distinguishing natural from anthropogenic oil sources. The major purpose of this study was to build upon the work previously funded by the Bureau of Ocean Energy...
Daily MODIS data trends of hurricane-induced forest impact and early recovery
Elijah W. Ramsey III, Joseph Spruce, Amina Rangoonwala, Yukihiro Suzuoki, James Smoot, Jerry Gasser, Terri Bannister
2011, Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing (77) 1133-1143
We studied the use of daily satellite data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensors to assess wetland forest damage and recovery from Hurricane Katrina (29 August 2005 landfall). Processed MODIS daily vegetation index (VI) trends were consistent with previously determined impact and recovery patterns provided by the "snapshot"...
DNA-based detection of the fungal pathogen Geomyces destructans in soil from bat hibernacula
Daniel L. Lindner, Andrea Gargas, Jeffrey M. Lorch, Mark T. Banik, Jessie Glaeser, Thomas H. Kunz, David S. Blehert
2011, Mycologia (103) 241-246
White-nose syndrome (WNS) is an emerging disease causing unprecedented morbidity and mortality among bats in eastern North America. The disease is characterized by cutaneous infection of hibernating bats by the psychrophilic fungus Geomyces destructans. Detection of G. destructans in environments occupied by bats will be critical for WNS surveillance, management...
Contamination of nonylphenolic compounds in creek water, wastewater treatment plant effluents, and sediments from Lake Shihwa and vicinity, Korea: Comparison with fecal pollution
Minkyu Choi, Edward T. Furlong, Hyo-Bang Moon, Jun Yu, Hee-Gu Choi
2011, Chemosphere (85) 1406-1413
Nonylphenolic compounds (NPs), coprostanol (COP), and cholestanol, major contaminants in industrial and domestic wastewaters, were analyzed in creek water, wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent, and sediment samples from artificial Lake Shihwa and its vicinity, one of the most industrialized regions in Korea. We also determined mass discharge of NPs and...
Causes and implications of the correlation between forest productivity and tree mortality rates
Nathan L. Stephenson, Philip J. van Mantgem, Andrew G. Bunn, Howard Bruner, Mark E. Harmon, Kari B. O’Connell, Dean L. Urban, Jerry F. Franklin
2011, Ecological Monographs (81) 527-555
At global and regional scales, tree mortality rates are positively correlated with forest net primary productivity (NPP). Yet causes of the correlation are unknown, in spite of potentially profound implications for our understanding of environmental controls of forest structure and dynamics and, more generally, our understanding of broad-scale environmental controls...
Calcite growth-rate inhibition by fulvic acids isolated from Big Soda Lake, Nevada, USA, the Suwannee River, Georgia, USA and by polycarboxylic acids
Michael M. Reddy, Jerry Leenheer
2011, Annals of Environmental Science (5) 41-53
Calcite crystallization rates are characterized using a constant solution composition at 25°C, pH=8.5, and calcite supersaturation (Ω) of 4.5 in the absence and presence of fulvic acids isolated from Big Soda Lake, Nevada (BSLFA), and a fulvic acid from the Suwannee River, Georgia (SRFA). Rates are also measured in the...
By land and by sea: The widespread threat of feral cats on Hawaiian wildlife
Steven C. Hess
2011, The Wildlife Professional (5) 66-67
Assessing possible visitor-use impacts on water quality in Yosemite National Park, California
David W. Clow, Rachael S. Peavler, Jim Roche, Anna K. Panorska, James M. Thomas, Steve Smith
2011, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (183) 197-215
There is concern that visitor-use associated activities, such as bathing, dish washing, wastewater production, and stock animal use near lakes and streams, could cause degradation of water quality in Yosemite National Park. A study was conducted during 2004–2007 to assess patterns in nutrient and Escherichia coli (E. coli) concentrations in...
The greenhouse gas flux and potential global warming feedbacks of a northern macrotidal and microtidal salt marsh
Gail L. Chmura, Lisa Kellman, Glenn R. Guntenspergen
2011, Environmental Research Letters (6) 044016
Conversion of wetlands by drainage for agriculture or other anthropogenic activities could have a negative or positive feedback to global warming (GWF). We suggest that a major predictor of the GWF is salinity of the wetland soil (a proxy for available sulfate), a factor often ignored in other studies. We...
Summary of suspended-sediment concentration data, San Francisco Bay, California, water year 2008
Paul A. Buchanan, Tara L. Morgan
2011, Data Series 634
Suspended-sediment concentration data were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey in San Francisco Bay during water year 2008 (October 1, 2007–September 30, 2008). Optical sensors and water samples were used to monitor suspended-sediment concentration at two sites in Suisun Bay, two sites in Central San Francisco Bay, and one site...
Regional water table (2010) in the Mojave River and Morongo Groundwater basins, southwestern Mojave Desert, California
Gregory A. Smith, Christina L. Stamos, Carolyn S. Glockhoff, Sally F. House, Dennis A. Clark
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5234
Since 1992, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Mojave Water Agency (MWA), has constructed a series of regional water-table maps for intermittent years in a continuing effort to monitor groundwater conditions in the Mojave River and Morongo groundwater basins. The previously published data, which were used to...
Subsurface transport of orthophosphate in five agricultural watersheds, USA
Joseph L. Domagalski, Henry M. Johnson
2011, Journal of Hydrology (409) 157-171
Concentrations of dissolved orthophosphate (ortho P) in the unsaturated zone, groundwater, tile drains, and groundwater/stream water interfaces were assessed in five agricultural watersheds to determine the potential for subsurface transport. Concentrations of iron oxides were measured in the aquifer material and adsorption of ortho P on oxide surfaces was assessed...
Taking the pulse of snowmelt: in situ sensors reveal seasonal, event and diurnal patterns of nitrate and dissolved organic matter variability in an upland forest stream
Brian A. Pellerin, John Franco Saraceno, James B. Shanley, Stephen D. Sebestyen, George R. Aiken, Wilfred M. Wollheim, Brian A. Bergamaschi
2011, Biogeochemistry (108) 183-198
Highly resolved time series data are useful to accurately identify the timing, rate, and magnitude of solute transport in streams during hydrologically dynamic periods such as snowmelt. We used in situ optical sensors for nitrate (NO3-) and chromophoric dissolved organic matter fluorescence (FDOM) to measure surface water concentrations at 30...
Nutrient loadings to streams of the continental United States from municipal and industrial effluent?
Molly A. Maupin, Tamara Ivahnenko
2011, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (47)
Data from the United States Environmental Protection Agency Permit Compliance System national database were used to calculate annual total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) loads to surface waters from municipal and industrial facilities in six major regions of the United States for 1992, 1997, and 2002. Concentration and effluent...
Hydrology, phosphorus, and suspended solids in five agricultural streams in the Lower Fox River and Green Bay Watersheds, Wisconsin, Water Years 2004-06
David J. Graczyk, Dale M. Robertson, Paul D. Baumgart, Kevin Fermanich
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5111
A 3-year study was conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey and the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay to characterize water quality in agricultural streams in the Fox/Wolf watershed in northeastern Wisconsin and provide information to assist in the calibration of a watershed model for the area. Streamflow, phosphorus, and suspended solids...
Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of the Williston Basin Province of North Dakota, Montana, and South Dakota, 2010
U.S. Geological Survey Williston Basin Province Assessment Team
2011, Data Series 69-W
Using a geology-based assessment method, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated mean undiscovered volumes of 3.8 billion barrels of undiscovered oil, 3.7 trillion cubic feet of associated/dissolved natural gas, and 0.2 billion barrels of undiscovered natural gas liquids in the Williston Basin Province, North Dakota, Montana, and South Dakota. The U.S....
Unmarked: An R package for fitting hierarchical models of wildlife occurrence and abundance
Ian J. Fiske, Richard B. Chandler
2011, Journal of Statistical Software (43)
Ecological research uses data collection techniques that are prone to substantial and unique types of measurement error to address scientific questions about species abundance and distribution. These data collection schemes include a number of survey methods in which unmarked individuals are counted, or determined to be present, at spatially- referenced...
