Direction of unsaturated flow in a homogeneous and isotropic hillslope
Ning Lu, Basak Sener Kaya, Jonathan W. Godt
2011, Water Resources Research (47)
The distribution of soil moisture in a homogeneous and isotropic hillslope is a transient, variably saturated physical process controlled by rainfall characteristics, hillslope geometry, and the hydrological properties of the hillslope materials. The major driving mechanisms for moisture movement are gravity and gradients in matric potential. The latter is solely...
The international charter for space and major disasters--project manager training
Brenda Jones
2011, General Information Product 131
Regional Project Managers for the Charter are developed through training courses, which typically last between 3 and 5 days and are held in a central location for participants. These courses have resulted in increased activations and broader use of Charter data and information by local emergency management authorities. Project Managers...
Mapping perennial vegetation cover in the Mojave Desert
Cynthia S.A. Wallace
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3077
Scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey's Western Geographic Science Center have recently created a regional map of perennial vegetation cover for the Mojave Desert. The scientists used existing field data collected for a variety of previous studies and satellite data available for free through USGS archives to create a calibrated...
Analysis of watersheds monitored by the U.S. Geological Survey streamflow-gaging station network in the Upper Colorado River Basin
Terry A. Kenney, Susan G. Buto, David D. Susong
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5081
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has operated streamflow-gaging stations in 1,053 watersheds in the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB) since 1894. Currently, 223 of these streamgages are active. This report presents selected watershed characteristics for 10,338 watersheds in the UCRB. These watersheds are compared to the watersheds upstream of USGS...
Diel biogeochemical processes and their effect on the aqueous chemistry of streams: A review
David A. Nimick, Christopher H. Gammons, Stephen R. Parker
2011, Chemical Geology (283) 3-17
This review summarizes biogeochemical processes that operate on diel, or 24-h, time scales in streams and the changes in aqueous chemistry that are associated with these processes. Some biogeochemical processes, such as those producing diel cycles of dissolved O2 and pH, were the first to be studied, whereas processes producing...
Diel biogeochemical processes in terrestrial waters
David A. Nimick, Chris Gammons
2011, Chemical Geology (283) 1-2
Many biogeochemical processes in rivers and lakes respond to the solar photocycle and produce persistent patterns of measureable phenomena that exhibit a day–night, or 24-h, cycle. Despite a large body of recent literature, the mechanisms responsible for these diel fluctuations are widely debated, with a growing consensus that combinations...
Three types of gas hydrate reservoirs in the Gulf of Mexico identified in LWD data
Myung Woong Lee, Timothy S. Collett
2011, Book, Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Gas Hydrates
High quality logging-while-drilling (LWD) well logs were acquired in seven wells drilled during the Gulf of Mexico Gas Hydrate Joint Industry Project Leg II in the spring of 2009. These data help to identify three distinct types of gas hydrate reservoirs: isotropic reservoirs in sands, vertical fractured reservoirs in shale,...
Beaufort Sea deep-water gas hydrate recovery from a seafloor mound in a region of widespread BSR occurrence
Patrick E. Hart, John W. Pohlman, T.D. Lorenson, Brian D. Edwards
2011, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the 7th international conference on gas hydrates (ICGH 2011)
Gas hydrate was recovered from the Alaskan Beaufort Sea slope north of Camden Bay in August 2010 during a U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy expedition (USCG cruise ID HLY1002) under the direction of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Interpretation of multichannel seismic (MCS) reflection data collected in 1977 by the...
Response to: Concerns about extrapolating right off the bat [Letter]
Justin G. Boyles, Paul M. Cryan, Gary F. McCracken, Thomas H. Kunz
2011, Science (333) 287-288
No abstract available....
Developing seismogenic source models based on geologic fault data
Kathleen M. Haller, Roberto Basili
2011, Seismological Research Letters (82) 519-525
Calculating seismic hazard usually requires input that includes seismicity associated with known faults, historical earthquake catalogs, geodesy, and models of ground shaking. This paper will address the input generally derived from geologic studies that augment the short historical catalog to predict ground shaking at time scales of tens, hundreds, or...
Relation of hydrologic processes to groundwater and surface-water levels and flow directions in a dune-beach complex at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and Beverly Shores, Indiana
Paul M. Buszka, David A. Cohen, David C. Lampe, Noel B. Pavlovic
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5073
The potential for high groundwater levels to cause wet basements (groundwater flooding) is of concern to residents of communities in northwestern Indiana. Changes in recharge from precipitation increases during 2006-9, water-level changes from restoration of nearby wetlands in the Great Marsh in 1998-2002, and changes in recharge due to the...
USGS library for S-PLUS for Windows -- Release 4.0
David L. Lorenz, Elizabeth A. Ahearn, Janet M. Carter, Timothy A. Cohn, Wendy J. Danchuk, Jeffrey W. Frey, Dennis R. Helsel, Kathy Lee, David C. Leeth, Jeffrey D. Martin, Virginia L. McGuire, Kathleen M. Neitzert, Dale M. Robertson, James R. Slack, J. Jeffrey Starn, Aldo V. Vecchia, Donald H. Wilkison, Joyce E. Williamson
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1130
Release 4.0 of the U.S. Geological Survey S-PLUS library supercedes release 2.1. It comprises functions, dialogs, and datasets used in the U.S. Geological Survey for the analysis of water-resources data. This version does not contain ESTREND, which was in version 2.1. See Release 2.1 for information and access to that...
Bedform response to flow variability
Jonathan M. Nelson, Brandy L. Logan, Paul J. Kinzel, Y. Shimizu, S. Giri, R.L. Shreve, S.R. McLean
2011, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms (36) 1938-1947
Laboratory observations and computational results for the response of bedform fields to rapid variations in discharge are compared and discussed. The simple case considered here begins with a relatively low discharge over a flat bed on which bedforms are initiated, followed by a short high-flow period with double the original...
Growth rate variation among passerine species in tropical and temperate sites: an antagonistic interaction between parental food provisioning and nest predation risk
Thomas E. Martin, Penn Llyod, Carlos Bosque, Daniel C. Barton, Atilio L. Biancucci, Yi-Ru Cheng, Riccardo Ton
2011, Evolution (65) 1607-1622
Causes of interspecific variation in growth rates within and among geographic regions remain poorly understood. Passerine birds represent an intriguing case because differing theories yield the possibility of an antagonistic interaction between nest predation risk and food delivery rates on evolution of growth rates. We test this possibility among 64...
Conceptualizing and communicating ecological river restoration
Robert B. Jacobson, Jim Berkley
2011, Book chapter, Stream restoration in dynamic fluvial systems
We present a general conceptual model for communicating aspects of river restoration and management. The model is generic and adaptable to most riverine settings, independent of size. The model has separate categories of natural and social-economic drivers, and management actions are envisioned as modifiers of naturally dynamic systems. The model...
Hydrogeophysical investigations at Hidden Dam, Raymond, California
Burke J. Minsley, Bethany L. Burton, Scott Ikard, Michael H. Powers
2011, Journal of Environmental & Engineering Geophysics (16) 145-164
Self-potential and direct current resistivity surveys are carried out at the Hidden Dam site in Raymond, California to assess present-day seepage patterns and better understand the hydrogeologic mechanisms that likely influence seepage. Numerical modeling is utilized in conjunction with the geophysical measurements to predict variably-saturated flow through typical two-dimensional...
White-tailed deer age ratios as herd management and predator impact measures in Pennsylvania
Christopher S. Rosenberry, Andrew S. Norton, Duane R. Diefenbach, Jeannine T. Fleegle, Bret D. Wallingford
2011, Wildlife Society Bulletin (35) 461-468
A review of the Pennsylvania Game Commission's (PGC) deer management program and public concern about predator impacts on deer (Odocoileus virginianus) populations compelled the PGC to investigate the role of age ratios in developing management recommendations. Age ratios, such as proportion of juveniles in the antlerless harvest, may provide an...
Modeling hydrodynamics, water temperature, and water quality in the Klamath River upstream of Keno Dam, Oregon, 2006-09
Annett B. Sullivan, Stewart A. Rounds, Michael L. Deas, Jessica R. Asbill, Roy E. Wellman, Marc A. Stewart, Matthew W. Johnston, I. Ertugrul Sogutlugil
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5105
A hydrodynamic, water temperature, and water-quality model was constructed for a 20-mile reach of the Klamath River downstream of Upper Klamath Lake, from Link River to Keno Dam, for calendar years 2006-09. The two-dimensional, laterally averaged model CE-QUAL-W2 was used to simulate water velocity, ice cover, water temperature, specific conductance,...
Unravelling long-term vegetation change patterns in a binational watershed using multitemporal land cover data and historical photography
Miguel L. Villarreal, Laura M. Norman, Robert H. Webb, Diane E. Boyer, Raymond M. Turner
2011, Conference Paper, Proceedings of MULTITEMP 2011, 6th International Workshop on the Analysis of Multitemporal Remote Sensing Images
A significant amount of research conducted in the Sonoran Desert of North America has documented, both anecdotally and empirically, major vegetation changes over the past century due to human land use activities. However, many studies lack coincidental landscape-scale data characterizing the spatial and temporal manifestation of these changes. Vegetation changes...
Coastal circulation and water-column properties off Kalaupapa National Historical Park, Molokai, Hawaii, 2008-2010
Curt D. Storlazzi, Katherine Presto, Eric K. Brown
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1154
More than 2.2 million measurements of oceanographic forcing and the resulting water-column properties were made off U.S. National Park Service's Kalaupapa National Historical Park on the north shore of Molokai, Hawaii, between 2008 and 2010 to understand the role of oceanographic processes on the health and sustainability of the area's...
Aggregation of estimated numbers of undiscovered deposits: an R-script with an example from the Chu Sarysu Basin, Kazakhtan: Chapter B in Global mineral resource assessment
John H. Schuenemeyer, Michael L. Zientek, Stephen E. Box
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5090-B
Mineral resource assessments completed by the U.S. Geological Survey during the past three decades express geologically based estimates of numbers of undiscovered mineral deposits as probability distributions. Numbers of undiscovered deposits of a given type are estimated in geologically defined regions. Using Monte Carlo simulations, these undiscovered deposit estimates are...
Ictalurids in Iowa’s streams and rivers: Status, distribution, and relationships with biotic integrity
Anthony R. Sindt, Jesse R. Fischer, Michael C. Quist, Clay Pierce
2011, American Fisheries Society Symposium (77) 335-347
Anthropogenic alterations to Iowa’s landscape have greatly altered lotic systems with consequent effects on the biodiversity of freshwater fauna. Ictalurids are a diverse group of fishes and play an important ecological role in aquatic ecosystems. However, little is known about their distribution and status in lotic systems throughout Iowa. The...
Gravity lineaments of the Cocos Plate: Evidence for a thermal contraction crack origin
Marie-Helene Cormier, Kathleen D. Gans, Douglas S. Wilson
2011, Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems (12)
Lineaments in the gravity field with wavelengths of 100–200 km affect the south-central Pacific. Because they align with absolute plate motion, it has been proposed that they reflect small-scale convection cells beneath the lithosphere that become elongated by basal shear. Alternatively, it was suggested that they reflect channelized flow of...
The population crash of the white-rumped vulture, and its struggle to recover
Carol U. Meteyer, Martin Gilbert
2011, The Falconer 76-78
The white-rumped vulture Gyps bengalensis was once the most abundant bird of prey on the Indian sub-continent. This species easily adapted to life in urban settings; thriving as a keystone species that maintained an ecological balance between the living and the dead. Dead livestock comprised the bulk of...
Combined multibeam and LIDAR bathymetry data from eastern Long Island Sound and westernmost Block Island Sound-A regional perspective
L.J. Poppe, W. W. Danforth, K.Y. McMullen, Castle E. Parker, E. F. Doran
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1003
Detailed bathymetric maps of the sea floor in Long Island Sound are of great interest to the Connecticut and New York research and management communities because of this estuary's ecological, recreational, and commercial importance. The completed, geologically interpreted digital terrain models (DTMs), ranging in area from 12 to 293 square...
