Mines and mineral processing facilities in the vicinity of the March 11, 2011, earthquake in northern Honshu, Japan
W. David Menzie, Michael S. Baker, Donald I. Bleiwas, Chin Kuo
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1069
U.S. Geological Survey data indicate that the area affected by the March 11, 2011, magnitude 9.0 earthquake and associated tsunami is home to nine cement plants, eight iodine plants, four iron and steel plants, four limestone mines, three copper refineries, two gold refineries, two lead refineries, two zinc refineries, one...
A national-scale geochemical and mineralogical survey of soils of the conterminous United States
David B. Smith, William F. Cannon, Laurel G. Woodruff
2011, Applied Geochemistry (26) S250-S255
In 2007, the US Geological Survey initiated a low-density (1 site per 1600 km2, c. 4800 sites) geochemical and mineralogical survey of soils of the conterminous USA. The ideal sampling protocol at each site includes a sample from 0–5 cm depth, a composite of the soil A horizon, and a sample from...
Baseline ecological risk assessment of the Calcasieu Estuary, Louisiana: Part 2. An evaluation of the predictive ability of effects-based sediment-quality guidelines
Donald D. MacDonald, Christopher G. Ingersoll, Dawn Smorong, Jesse A. Sinclair, Rebekka Lindskoog, Ning Wang, Corrine Severn, Ron Gouguet, John Meyer, Jay Field
2011, Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology (61) 14-28
Three sets of effects-based sediment-quality guidelines (SQGs) were evaluated to support the selection of sediment-quality benchmarks for assessing risks to benthic invertebrates in the Calcasieu Estuary, Louisiana. These SQGs included probable effect concentrations (PECs), effects range median values (ERMs), and logistic regression model (LRMs)-based T50 values. The results of this...
Terrestrial essential climate variables (ECVs) at a glance
Susan Stitt, John Dwyer, Dennis Dye, Edward Josberger
2011, Scientific Investigations Map 3155
The Global Terrestrial Observing System, Global Climate Observing System, World Meteorological Organization, and Committee on Earth Observation Satellites all support consistent global land observations and measurements. To accomplish this goal, the Global Terrestrial Observing System defined 'essential climate variables' as measurements of atmosphere, oceans, and land that are technically and...
Three-dimensional geologic model of the southeastern Espanola Basin, Santa Fe County, New Mexico
Michael P. Pantea, Mark R. Hudson, V. J. S. Grauch, Scott A. Minor
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5025
This multimedia model and report show and describe digital three-dimensional faulted surfaces and volumes of lithologic units that confine and constrain the basin-fill aquifers within the Espanola Basin of north-central New Mexico. These aquifers are the primary groundwater resource for the cities of Santa Fe and Espanola, six Pueblo nations,...
Distribution of trace metals at Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site, Berks and Chester Counties, Pennsylvania
Ronald A. Sloto, Andrew G. Reif
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5014
Hopewell Furnace, located approximately 50 miles northwest of Philadelphia, was a cold-blast, charcoal iron furnace that operated for 113 years (1771 to 1883). The purpose of this study by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the National Park Service, was to determine the distribution of trace metals released to...
Regional skew for California, and flood frequency for selected sites in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Basin, based on data through water year 2006
Charles Parrett, Andrea Veilleux, J.R. Stedinger, N.A. Barth, Donna L. Knifong, J.C. Ferris
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5260
Improved flood-frequency information is important throughout California in general and in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Basin in particular, because of an extensive network of flood-control levees and the risk of catastrophic flooding. A key first step in updating flood-frequency information is determining regional skew. A Bayesian generalized least squares (GLS)...
Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of the West African Costal Province, West Africa
Michael E. Brownfield, Ronald R. Charpentier, Christopher J. Schenk, Timothy R. Klett, Troy A. Cook, Richard M. Pollastro
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3034
The West African Coastal Province along the west African coastline recently was assessed for undiscovered, technically recoverable oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids resources as part of the U.S. Geological Survey's USGS World Oil and Gas Assessment. Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the USGS estimated mean volumes of 3.2...
cloudPEST - A python module for cloud-computing deployment of PEST, a program for parameter estimation
Michael N. Fienen, Thomas C. Kunicki, Daniel E. Kester
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1062
This report documents cloudPEST-a Python module with functions to facilitate deployment of the model-independent parameter estimation code PEST on a cloud-computing environment. cloudPEST makes use of low-level, freely available command-line tools that interface with the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2(TradeMark)) that are unlikely to change dramatically. This report describes the...
Publications of the Volcano Hazards Program 2009
Manuel Nathenson
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1047
The Volcano Hazards Program of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is part of the Geologic Hazards Assessments subactivity as funded by congressional appropriation. Investigations are carried out in the USGS and with cooperators at the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, University of...
Sediment samples and channel-geometry data, lower Platte River watershed, Nebraska, 2010
Nathaniel J. Schaepe, Jason S. Alexander
2011, Data Series 572
The relation between channel width and stream physical habitat in the lower Platte River in eastern Nebraska was studied as part of the lower Platte River Cumulative Impact Study. The purpose of this component was to document the grain-size distribution of sediment deposited as specific types of physical features, such...
Bank erosion of navigation canals in the western and central Gulf of Mexico
Cindy A. Thatcher, Stephen B. Hartley, Scott A. Wilson
2011, Open-File Report 2010-1017
Erosion of navigation canal banks is a direct cause of land loss, but there has been little quantitative analysis to determine why certain major canals exhibit faster widening rates (indicative of erosion) than others in the coastal zones of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. We hypothesize that navigation canals exhibit...
Sutter Buttes: The lone volcano in California's Great Valley
Brian P. Hausback, L.J. Patrick Muffler, Michael A. Clynne
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3024
The volcanic spires of the Sutter Buttes tower 2,000 feet above the farms and fields of California's Great Valley, just 50 miles north-northwest of Sacramento and 11 miles northwest of Yuba City. The only volcano within the valley, the Buttes consist of a central core of volcanic domes surrounded by...
Endocrine active chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and other chemicals of concern in surface water, wastewater-treatment plant effluent, and bed sediment, and biological characteristics in selected streams, Minnesota: Design, methods, and data, 2009
Kathy Lee, Susan K. Langer, Larry B. Barber, Jeff H. Writer, Mark L. Ferrey, Heiko L. Schoenfuss, Edward T. Furlong, William T. Foreman, James L. Gray, Rhiannon C. ReVello, Dalma Martinovic, Olivia R. Woodruff, Steffanie H. Keefe, Greg K. Brown, Howard E. Taylor, Imma Ferrer, E. Michael Thurman
2011, Data Series 575
This report presents the study design, environmental data, and quality-assurance data for an integrated chemical and biological study of selected streams or lakes that receive wastewater-treatment plant effluent in Minnesota. This study was a cooperative effort of the U.S. Geological Survey, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, St. Cloud State University,...
More than 100 Years of Background-Level Sedimentary Metals, Nisqually River Delta, South Puget Sound, Washington
Renee K. Takesue, Peter W. Swarzenski
2011, Open-File Report 2010-1329
The Nisqually River Delta is located about 25 km south of the Tacoma Narrows in the southern reach of Puget Sound. Delta evolution is controlled by sedimentation from the Nisqually River and erosion by strong tidal currents that may reach 0.95 m/s in the Nisqually Reach. The Nisqually River flows...
Limnological and water-quality data from Wonder Lake, Chilchukabena Lake, and Lake Minchumina, Denali National Park and Preserve and surrounding area, Alaska, June 2006-August 2008
D.A. Long, C.D. Arp
2011, Open-File Report 2010-1322
Growing visitor traffic and resource use, as well as natural and anthropogenic land and climatic changes, can place increasing stress on lake ecosystems in Denali National Park and Preserve. Baseline data required to substantiate impact assessment in this sub-arctic region is sparse to non-existent. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation...
The 1996-2009 borehole dilatometer installations, operation, and maintenance at sites in Long Valley Caldera, CA
Glenn Myren, Malcolm Johnston, Robert Mueller
2011, Open-File Report 2010-1319
High seismicity levels with accelerating uplift (under the resurgent dome) in Long Valley caldera in the eastern Sierra Nevada from 1989 to 1997, triggered upgrades to dilational strainmeters and other instrumentation installed in the early 1980's following a series of magnitude 6 earthquakes. This included two additional high-resolution borehole strainmeters...
Bibliography of literature pertaining to Long Valley Caldera and associated volcanic fields
John W. Ewert, Christopher J. Harpel, Suzanna K. Brooks, Mae Marcaida
2011, Open-File Report 2010-1320
On May 25-27, 1980, Long Valley caldera was rocked by four M=6 earthquakes that heralded the onset of a wave of seismic activity within the caldera which has continued through the present. Unrest has taken the form of seismic swarms, uplift of the resurgent dome, and areas of vegetation killed...
Spatiotemporal evolution of dike opening and décollement slip at Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai'i
Emily K. Montgomery-Brown, D. K. Sinnett, K.M. Larson, Michael P. Poland, P. Segall, Asta Miklius
2011, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (116)
Rapid changes in ground tilt and GPS positions on Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai'i, are interpreted as resulting from a shallow, two‐segment dike intrusion into the east rift zone that began at 1217 UTC (0217 HST) on 17 June 2007 and lasted almost 3 days. As a result...
Report on the 2010 Chilean earthquake and tsunami response
American Red Cross Multi-Disciplinary Team
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1053
In July 2010, in an effort to reduce future catastrophic natural disaster losses for California, the American Red Cross coordinated and sent a delegation of 20 multidisciplinary experts on earthquake response and recovery to Chile. The primary goal was to understand how the Chilean society and relevant organizations responded to...
A refined characterization of the alluvial geology of yucca flat and its effect on bulk hydraulic conductivity
G. A. Phelps, K. J. Halford
2011, Open-File Report 2010-1307
In Yucca Flat, on the Nevada National Security Site in southern Nevada, the migration of radionuclides from tests located in the alluvial deposits into the Paleozoic carbonate aquifer involves passage through a thick, heterogeneous section of late Tertiary and Quaternary alluvial sediments. An understanding of the lateral and vertical changes...
Multiple technologies applied to characterization of the porosity and permeability of the Biscayne aquifer, Florida
K.J. Cunningham, M.C. Sukop
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1037
Research is needed to determine how seepage-control actions planned by the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) will affect recharge, groundwater flow, and discharge within the dual-porosity karstic Biscayne aquifer where it extends eastward from the Everglades to Biscayne Bay. A key issue is whether the plan can be accomplished without...
Well installation, single-well testing, and particle-size analysis for selected sites in and near the Lost Creek Designated Ground Water Basin, north-central Colorado, 2003-2004
Jennifer A. Beck, Suzanne S. Paschke, L. Rick Arnold
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1024
This report describes results from a groundwater data-collection program completed in 2003-2004 by the U.S. Geological Survey in support of the South Platte Decision Support System and in cooperation with the Colorado Water Conservation Board. Two monitoring wells were installed adjacent to existing water-table monitoring wells. These wells were installed...
Investigating the complex interface where bedrock transforms to regolith
S. L. Brantley, Heather L. Buss, M. Lebedeva, R. C. Fletcher, I. Ma
2011, Applied Geochemistry (26) S12-S15
The interface where bedrock transforms to regolith is not planar but rather has a roughness that varies with the scale of observation. The complexity of this surface is manifested in both element-depth and fragment size-depth distributions and may sometimes be related to the longitudinal profiles of watershed streams. The fractal...
The delicate balance between soil production and erosion, and its role on landscape evolution
A. Dosseto, Heather L. Buss, P. O. Suresh
2011, Applied Geochemistry (26) S24-S27
The diversity in landscapes at the Earth’s surface is the result, amongst other things, of the balance (or imbalance) between soil production and erosion. While erosion rates are well constrained, it is only recently that we have been able to quantify rates of soil production. Uranium-series isotopes have been useful...
