Application of MODFLOW for oil reservoir simulation during the Deepwater Horizon Crisis
Paul A. Hsieh
2011, Ground Water (49) 319-323
When the Macondo well was shut in on July 15, 2010, the shut-in pressure recovered to a level that indicated the possibility of oil leakage out of the well casing into the surrounding formation. Such a leak could initiate a hydraulic fracture that might eventually breach the seafloor, resulting in...
Detection, emission estimation and risk prediction of forest fires in China using satellite sensors and simulation models in the past three decades-An overview
Jiahua Zhang, Fengmei Yao, Cheng Liu, Limin Yang, Vijendra K. Boken
2011, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (8) 3156-3178
Forest fires have major impact on ecosystems and greatly impact the amount of greenhouse gases and aerosols in the atmosphere. This paper presents an overview in the forest fire detection, emission estimation, and fire risk prediction in China using satellite imagery, climate data, and various simulation models over the past...
Anatomy of a metabentonite: Nucleation and growth of illite crystals and their coalescence into mixed-layer illite/smectite
D. D. Eberl, A.E. Blum, M. Serravezza
2011, American Mineralogist (96) 586-593
The illite layer content of mixed-layer illite/smectite (I/S) in a 2.5 m thick, zoned, metabentonite bed from Montana decreases regularly from the edges to the center of the bed. Traditional X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern modeling using Markovian statistics indicated that this zonation results from a mixing in different proportions of...
Probability and volume of potential postwildfire debris flows in the 2011 Monument burn area, southeastern Arizona
Barbara C. Ruddy, Kristine L. Verdin
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1181
This report presents a preliminary emergency assessment of the debris-flow hazards from drainage basins burned by the Monument wildfire in southeastern Arizona, in 2011. Empirical models derived from statistical evaluation of data collected from recently burned drainage basins throughout the intermountain Western United States were used to estimate the probability...
Antigenic profiling of Yersinia pestis infection in the Wyoming coyote (Canis latrans)
G. Vernati, W.H. Edwards, Tonie E. Rocke, S.F. Little, G.P. Andrews
2011, Journal of Wildlife Diseases (47) 21-29
Although Yersinia pestis is classified as a "high-virulence" pathogen, some host species are variably susceptible to disease. Coyotes (Canis latrans) exhibit mild, if any, symptoms during infection, but antibody production occurs postinfection. This immune response has been reported to be against the F1 capsule, although little subsequent characterization has been...
Distribution and habitat utilization of the gopher tortoise tick (Amblyomma tuberculatum) in southern Mississippi
Joshua R. Ennen, Carl P. Qualls
2011, Journal of Parasitology (97) 202-206
The distribution of the gopher tortoise tick (Amblyomma tuberculatum) has been considered intrinsically linked to the distribution of its primary host, gopher tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus). However, the presence of G. polyphemus does not always equate to the presence of A. tuberculatum. There is a paucity of data on the...
Anthropocene streams and base-level controls from historic dams in the unglaciated mid-Atlantic region, USA
Dorothy Merritts, Robert Walter, Michael Rahnis, Jeff Hartranft, Scott Cox, Allen Gellis, Noel Potter, William Hilgartner, Michael J. Langland, Lauren Manion, Caitlin Lippincott, Sauleh Siddiqui, Zain Rehman, Chris Scheid, Laura Kratz, Andrea Shilling, Matthew Jenschke, Katherine Datin, Elizabeth Cranmer, Austin Reed, Derek Matuszewski, Mark Voli, Erik Ohlson, Ali Neugebauer, Aakash Ahamed, Conor Neal, Allison Winter, Steven Becker
2011, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences (369) 976-1009
Recently, widespread valley-bottom damming for water power was identified as a primary control on valley sedimentation in the mid-Atlantic US during the late seventeenth to early twentieth century. The timing of damming coincided with that of accelerated upland erosion during post-European settlement land-use change. In this paper, we examine the...
Whole-rock and sulfide-mineral geochemical data for samples from volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits of the Bonnifield district, east-central Alaska
Cynthia Dusel-Bacon, John F. Slack, Alan E. Koenig, Nora K. Foley, Robert L. Oscarson, Kathleen D. Gans
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1171
This Open-File Report presents geochemical data for outcrop and drill-core samples from volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits and associated metaigneous and metasedimentary rocks in the Wood River area of the Bonnifield mining district, northern Alaska Range, east-central Alaska. The data consist of major- and trace-element whole-rock geochemical analyses, and major- and...
Gross and microscopic morphology of lesions in Cnidaria from Palmyra Atoll, Central Pacific
Gareth J. Williams, Thierry M. Work, Greta S. Aeby, Ingrid S. Knapp, Simon K. Davy
2011, Journal of Invertebrate Pathology (106) 165-173
We conducted gross and microscopic characterizations of lesions in Cnidaria from Palmyra Atoll, Central Pacific. We found growth anomalies (GA) to be the most commonly encountered lesion. Cases of discoloration and tissue loss were rare. GAs had a focal or multi-focal distribution and were predominantly nodular, exophytic, and umbonate. In...
Greater sage-grouse as an umbrella species for shrubland passerine birds: a multiscale assessment
Steven E. Hanser, Steven T. Knick
Steven T. Knick, John W. Connelly, editor(s)
2011, Book chapter, Greater Sage-Grouse
Working groups and government agen-cies are planning and conducting land actions in sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) habitats to benefit Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) populations. Managers have adopted an umbrella concept, creating habitat characteristics specific to sage-grouse requirements, in the belief that other wildlife species dependent on sagebrush will benefit. We tested...
Growth anomalies on the coral genera Acropora and Porites are strongly associated with host density and human population size across the Indo-Pacific
Greta S. Aeby, Gareth J. Williams, Erik C. Franklin, Jessica Haapkyla, C. Drew Harvell, Stephen Neale, Cathie A. Page, Laurie Raymundo, Bernardo Vargas-Angel, Bette L. Willis, Thierry M. Work, Simon K. Davy
2011, PLoS ONE (6)
Growth anomalies (GAs) are common, tumor-like diseases that can cause significant morbidity and decreased fecundity in the major Indo-Pacific reef-building coral genera, Acropora and Porites. GAs are unusually tractable for testing hypotheses about drivers of coral disease because of their pan-Pacific distributions, relatively high occurrence, and unambiguous ease of identification....
Carbon dioxide fluid-flow modeling and injectivity calculations
Lauri Burke
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5083
At present, the literature lacks a geologic-based assessment methodology for numerically estimating injectivity, lateral migration, and subsequent long-term containment of supercritical carbon dioxide that has undergone geologic sequestration into subsurface formations. This study provides a method for and quantification of first-order approximations for the time scale of supercritical carbon dioxide...
Grazing impact of the invasive clam Corbula amurensis on the microplankton assemblage of the northern San Francisco Estuary
Valerie E. Greene, Lindsay J. Sullivan, Janet K. Thompson, Wim J. Kimmerer
2011, Marine Ecology Progress Series (431) 183-193
Grazing by the overbite clam Corbula amurensis (formerly known as Potamocorbula) may be the cause of substantial declines in phytoplankton biomass and zooplankton in the San Francisco Estuary (SFE) following its introduction in 1986. While grazing rates have been examined on bacteria, phytoplankton, and copepod nauplii, the consumption of protistan...
An adaptive-management framework for optimal control of hiking near golden eagle nests in Denali National Park
Julien Martin, Paul L. Fackler, James D. Nichols, Michael C. Runge, Carol L. McIntyre, Bruce L. Lubow, Maggie C. McCluskie, Joel A. Schmutz
2011, Conservation Biology (25) 316-323
Unintended effects of recreational activities in protected areas are of growing concern. We used an adaptive-management framework to develop guidelines for optimally managing hiking activities to maintain desired levels of territory occupancy and reproductive success of Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) in Denali National Park (Alaska, U.S.A.). The management decision was...
Summary of juvenile salmonid passage and survival at McNary Dam-Acoustic survival studies, 2006-09
Noah S. Adams, Scott D. Evans
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1179
Passage and survival data were collected at McNary Dam between 2006 and 2009. These data have provided critical information for resource managers to implement structural and operational changes designed to improve the survival of juvenile salmonids as they migrate past the dam. Given the importance of these annual studies, the...
Assessment of selected contaminants in streambed- and suspended-sediment samples collected in Bexar County, Texas, 2007-09
Jennifer T. Wilson
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5097
Elevated concentrations of sediment-associated contaminants are typically associated with urban areas such as San Antonio, Texas, in Bexar County, the seventh most populous city in the United States. This report describes an assessment of selected sediment-associated contaminants in samples collected in Bexar County from sites on the following streams: Medio...
Hypolimnetic dissolved-oxygen dynamics within selected White River reservoirs, northern Arkansas-southern Missouri, 1974-2008
Jeanne L. De Lanois, W. Reed Green
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5090
Dissolved oxygen is a critical constituent in reservoirs and lakes because it is essential for metabolism by all aerobic aquatic organisms. In general, hypolimnetic temperature and dissolved-oxygen concentrations vary from summer to summer in reservoirs, more so than in natural lakes, largely in response to the magnitude of flow into...
Precipitation and runoff simulations of select perennial and ephemeral watersheds in the middle Carson River basin, Eagle, Dayton, and Churchill Valleys, west-central Nevada
Anne E. Jeton, Douglas K. Maurer
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5066
The effect that land use may have on streamflow in the Carson River, and ultimately its impact on downstream users can be evaluated by simulating precipitation-runoff processes and estimating groundwater inflow in the middle Carson River in west-central Nevada. To address these concerns, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with...
MODPATH-LGR; documentation of a computer program for particle tracking in shared-node locally refined grids by using MODFLOW-LGR
Jesse E. Dickinson, R. T. Hanson, Steffen W. Mehl, Mary C. Hill
2011, Techniques and Methods 6-A38
The computer program described in this report, MODPATH-LGR, is designed to allow simulation of particle tracking in locally refined grids. The locally refined grids are simulated by using MODFLOW-LGR, which is based on MODFLOW-2005, the three-dimensional groundwater-flow model published by the U.S. Geological Survey. The documentation includes brief descriptions of...
Development of a high-resolution binational vegetation map of the Santa Cruz River riparian corridor and surrounding watershed, southern Arizona and northern Sonora, Mexico
Cynthia S.A. Wallace, Miguel L. Villarreal, Laura M. Norman
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1143
This report summarizes the development of a binational vegetation map developed for the Santa Cruz Watershed, which straddles the southern border of Arizona and the northern border of Sonora, Mexico. The map was created as an environmental input to the Santa Cruz Watershed Ecosystem Portfolio Model (SCWEPM) that is being...
Geographic science for public and Tribal lands management
Alicia A. Torregrosa
James W. Hendley, editor(s)
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3059
There are more than 650 million acres of U.S. public and Tribal lands, most found west of the Mississippi River. Scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey's Western Geographic Science Center are working to increase the scientific information available for natural resource decision making, while continuing productive collaborations with Federal land...
Development of a precipitation-runoff model to simulate unregulated streamflow in the South Fork Flathead River Basin, Montana
K.J. Chase
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5095
This report documents the development of a precipitation-runoff model for the South Fork Flathead River Basin, Mont. The Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System model, developed in cooperation with the Bureau of Reclamation, can be used to simulate daily mean unregulated streamflow upstream and downstream from Hungry Horse Reservoir for water-resources planning. Two...
Changes in water levels and storage in the High Plains Aquifer, predevelopment to 2009
V. L. McGuire
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3069
The High Plains aquifer underlies 111.8 million acres (175,000 square miles) in parts of eight States - Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming. The area overlying the High Plains aquifer is one of the primary agricultural regions in the Nation. Water-level declines began in parts...
Geology and geochemistry of volcanic centers within the eastern half of the Sonoma volcanic field, northern San Francisco Bay region, California
Donald S. Sweetkind, James J. Rytuba, Victoria E. Langenheim, Robert J. Fleck
2011, Geosphere (7) 629-657
Volcanic rocks in the Sonoma volcanic field in the northern California Coast Ranges contain heterogeneous assemblages of a variety of compositionally diverse volcanic rocks. We have used field mapping, new and existing age determinations, and 343 new major and trace element analyses of whole-rock samples...
Kilauea— An explosive volcano in Hawai‘i
Donald A. Swanson, Dick Fiske, Tim Rose, Bruce F. Houghton, Larry Mastin
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3064
Kīlauea Volcano on the Island of Hawai‘i, though best known for its frequent quiet eruptions of lava flows, has erupted explosively many times in its history - most recently in 2011. At least six such eruptions in the past 1,500 years sent ash into the jet stream, at the cruising...
