Baseline ecological risk assessment of the Calcasieu Estuary, Louisiana: 3. An evaluation of the risks to benthic invertebrates associated with exposure to contaminated sediments
Donald D. MacDonald, Christopher G. Ingersoll, Nile E. Kemble, Dawn E. Smorong, Jesse A. Sinclair, Rebekka Lindskoog, Gary Gaston, Denise Sanger, R. Scott Carr, James Biedenbach, Ron Gouguet, John Kern, Ann Shortelle, L. Jay Field, John Meyer
2011, Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology (61) 29-58
The sediments in the Calcasieu Estuary are contaminated with a wide variety of chemicals of potential concern (COPCs), including heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, phthalates, chlorinated benzenes, and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans. The sources of these COPCs include both point and non-point source discharges. As part of a...
Proceedings of a Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning Workshop for the Western United States
Lyman Thorsteinson, Derrick Hirsch, David Helweg, Amardeep Dhanju, Joan Barmenski, Richard Ferrero
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1152
Recent scientific and ocean policy assessments demonstrate that a fundamental change in our current management system is required to achieve the long-term health of our ocean, coasts, and Great Lakes in order to sustain the services and benefits they provide to society. The present (2011) species- and sector-centric way we...
Hydrologic conditions and terrestrial laser scanning of post-fire debris flows in the San Gabriel Mountains, CA, U.S.A.
Kevin M. Schmidt, M. N. Hanshaw, James F. Howle, Jason W. Kean, Dennis M. Staley, Jonathan D. Stock, Gerald W. Bawden
2011, Conference Paper, Debris-flow hazards: Mitigation, mechanics, prediction, and assessment: Proceedings of 5th international conference: Padua, Italy, 14-17 June 2011
To investigate rainfall-runoff conditions that generate post-wildfire debris flows, we instrumented and surveyed steep, small watersheds along the tectonically active front of the San Gabriel Mountains, California. Fortuitously, we recorded runoff-generated debris-flows triggered by one spatially restricted convective event with 28 mm of rainfall falling over 62 minutes. Our rain...
Entrainment of bed sediment by debris flows: results from large-scale experiments
Mark E. Reid, Richard M. Iverson, Matthew Logan, Richard G. LaHusen, Jonathan W. Godt, Julie P. Griswold
2011, Conference Paper, Debris-flow hazards : mitigation, mechanics, prediction, and assessment : proceedings of 5th international conference : Padua, Italy, 14-17 June 2011
When debris flows grow by entraining sediment, they can become especially hazardous owing to increased volume, speed, and runout. To investigate the entrainment process, we conducted eight largescale experiments in the USGS debris-flow flume. In each experiment, we released a 6 m3 water-saturated debris flow across a 47-m long, ~12-cm...
Spatially explicit shallow landslide susceptibility mapping over large areas
Dino Bellugi, William E. Dietrich, Jonathan D. Stock, Jim McKean, Brian Kazian, Paul Hargrove
2011, Conference Paper, Debris-flow hazards : mitigation, mechanics, prediction, and assessment : proceedings of 5th international conference : Padua, Italy, 14-17 June 2011
Recent advances in downscaling climate model precipitation predictions now yield spatially explicit patterns of rainfall that could be used to estimate shallow landslide susceptibility over large areas. In California, the United States Geological Survey is exploring community emergency response to the possible effects of a very large simulated storm event...
A trade-off between embryonic development rate and immune function of avian offspring is concealed by embryonic temperature
Thomas E. Martin, Elena Arriero, Ania Majewska
2011, Biology Letters (7) 425-428
Long embryonic periods are assumed to reflect slower intrinsic development that are thought to trade off to allow enhanced physiological systems, such as immune function. Yet, the relatively rare studies of this trade-off in avian offspring have not found the expected trade-off. Theory and tests have not taken into account...
Effects of experimental passive artificial recharge of treated surface water on water quality in the Equus Beds Aquifer, 2009-2010
Linda Pickett Garinger, Aaron S. King, Andrew C. Ziegler
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5070
Declining water levels and concerns about the migration of a known saltwater plume upgradient from public supply wells prompted the City of Wichita to investigate the feasibility of using artificial recharge to replenish the water supply in the Equus Beds aquifer. After preliminary testing, the City of Wichita began Phase...
A spatial exploration of informal trail networks within Great Falls Park, VA
Jeremy Wimpey, Jeffrey L. Marion
2011, Journal of Environmental Management (92) 1012-1022
Informal (visitor-created) trails represent a threat to the natural resources of protected natural areas around the globe. These trails can remove vegetation, displace wildlife, alter hydrology, alter habitat, spread invasive species, and fragment landscapes. This study examines informal and formal trails within Great Falls Park, VA, a sub-unit of the...
Assessing effects of energy development in Colorado and New Mexico
N.B. Carr, J.E. Diffendorfer, N.E. Latysh, K.J. Leib, Anne-Marie Matherne, Christine Turner
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3053
Assessment of groundwater/surface-water interaction and simulation of potential streamflow depletion induced by groundwater withdrawal, Uinta River near Roosevelt, Utah
P. M. Lambert, T. Marston, B. A. Kimball, Bernard J. Stolp
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5044
Roosevelt City, Utah, asserts a need for an additional supply of water to meet municipal demands and has identified a potential location for additional groundwater development at the Sprouse well field near the West Channel of the Uinta River. Groundwater is commonly hydraulically linked to surface water and, under some...
Pacific lamprey artificial propogation and rearing investigations: Rocky Reach Lamprey Management Plan
Chelan County PUD, Rocky Reach Fish Forum, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, United States Geological Survey, GeoEngineers
2011, Report
The impetus for developing this document is through implementing the Rocky Reach Pacific Lamprey Management Plan (PLMP), a component of the Rocky Reach Comprehensive Settlement Agreement, both of which are discussed more thoroughly in Section 1.2. The ultimate goal of the PLMP is to achieve No Net Impact (NNI) to...
Groundwater quality of the Gulf Coast aquifer system, Houston, Texas, 2010
Jeannette H. Oden, Dexter W. Brown, Timothy D. Oden
2011, Data Series 598
During March–December 2010, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the city of Houston, collected source-water samples from 60 municipal supply wells in the Houston area. These data were collected as part of an ongoing study to determine concentrations, spatial extent, and associated geochemical conditions that might be conducive for...
A noninvasive, direct real-time PCR method for sex determination in multiple avian species
Jessica L. Brubaker, Natalie K. Karouna-Renier, Yu Chen, Kathryn Jenko, Daniel T. Sprague, Paula F.P. Henry
2011, Molecular Ecology Resources (11) 415-417
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based methods to determine the sex of birds are well established and have seen few modifications since they were first introduced in the 1990s. Although these methods allowed for sex determination in species that were previously difficult to analyse, they were not conducive to high-throughput analysis because...
Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of the West Siberian Basin Province, Russia, 2010
T. R. Klett
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3050
The U.S. Geological Survey, using a geology-based assessment methodology, estimated mean volumes of technically recoverable, conventional, undiscovered petroleum resources at 8 billion barrels of crude oil, 670 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, and 21 billion barrels of natural gas liquids for the West Siberian Basin Province in Russia as...
Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of the Dnieper-Donets Basin Province and Pripyat Basin Province, Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus, 2010
T. R. Klett
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3051
The U.S. Geological Survey, using a geology-based assessment methodology, estimated mean volumes of technically recoverable, conventional, undiscovered petroleum resources at 84 million barrels of crude oil, 4.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, and 130 million barrels of natural gas liquids for the Dnieper-Donets Basin Province and 39 million barrels...
Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of the Azov-Kuban Basin Province, Ukraine and Russia, 2010
T. R. Klett
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3052
The U.S. Geological Survey, using a geology-based assessment methodology, estimated mean volumes of technically recoverable, conventional, undiscovered petroleum resources at 218 million barrels of crude oil, 4.1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, and 94 million barrels of natural gas liquids for the Azov-Kuban Basin Province as part of a...
The Global Seismographic Network
Lind S. Gee, William S. Leith
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3021
Geophysical, geochemical, and mineralogical data from the Pebble Cu-Au-Mo porphyry deposit area, southwest Alaska: Contributions to assessment techniques for concealed mineral resources
E. D. Anderson, S. M. Smith, S. A. Giles, Matthew Granitto, R. G. Eppinger, P. A. Bedrosian, A. K. Shah, K.D. Kelley, D.L. Fey, B. J. Minsley, P. J. Brown
2011, Data Series 608
In 2007, the U.S. Geological Survey began a multidisciplinary study in southwest Alaska to investigate the setting and detectability of mineral deposits in concealed volcanic and glacial terranes. The study area hosts the world-class Pebble porphyry Cu-Au-Mo deposit, and through collaboration with the Pebble Limited Partnership, a range of geophysical...
Mine wastes and human health
Geoffrey S. Plumlee, Suzette A. Morman
2011, Elements (7) 399-404
Historical mining and mineral processing have been linked definitively to health problems resulting from occupational and environmental exposures to mine wastes. Modern mining and processing methods, when properly designed and implemented, prevent or greatly reduce potential environmental health impacts. However, particularly in developing countries, there are examples of health problems...
Temperature and oxygen in Missouri reservoirs
John R. Jones, Matthew F. Knowlton, Daniel V. Obrecht, Jennifer L. Graham
2011, Lake and Reservoir Management (27) 173-182
Vertical profiles of water temperature (n = 7193) and dissolved oxygen (n = 6516) were collected from 235 Missouri reservoirs during 1989–2007; most data were collected during May–August and provide a regional summary of summer conditions. Collectively, surface water temperature ranged from a mean of ~22 C in May to...
Shrimp trawlers as a local attractor of seabirds in nearshore waters of South Carolina, USA
Patrick G.R. Jodice, Lisa C. Wickliffe, Elena B. Sachs
2011, Marine Biology (158) 2289-2298
Shrimp trawling is common throughout the southeastern and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the USA and is the primary contributor to fisheries discards in these regions. Tens of thousands of nearshore seabirds nest near shrimp trawling grounds in the USA, but to date, there has been no assessment of the...
Groundwater technical procedures of the U.S. Geological Survey
William L. Cunningham, Charles W. Schalk
2011, Techniques and Methods 1-A1
A series of groundwater technical procedures documents (GWPDs) has been released by the U.S. Geological Survey, Water-Resources Discipline, for general use by the public. These technical procedures were written in response to the need for standardized technical procedures of many aspects of groundwater science, including site and measuring-point establishment, measurement...
Aqueous mineralogy and stratigraphy at and around the proposed Mawrth Vallis MSL Landing Site: New insights into the aqueous history of the region
Eldar Z. Noe Dobrea, Joseph Michalski, Gregg Swayze
2011, Mars, The International Journal of Mars Science and Exploration (6) 32-46
In this work, we have confirmed the mineralogical stratigraphy previously inferred by other authors, but also demonstrate the presence of additional minerals, including a possible acid-leaching product near the top of the sequence, an Mh-OH bearing phyllosilicate at the to of the sequence, and potentially a Ca-sulfate at the bottom...
Spawning migration movements of Lost River and shortnose suckers in the Williamson and Sprague Rivers, Oregon, following the removal of Chiloquin Dam-2009 Annual Report
Craig M. Ellsworth, Scott P. VanderKooi
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1147
The Chiloquin Dam was located at river kilometer (rkm) 1.3 on the Sprague River near the town of Chiloquin, Oregon. The dam was identified as a barrier that potentially inhibited or prevented the upstream spawning migrations and other movements of endangered Lost River suckers (Deltistes luxatus), shortnose suckers (Chasmistes brevirostris),...
Project Planning for Cougar Dam during 2010
Craig A. Haskell, Kenneth F. Tiffan
2011, Report
Cougar Dam is a 158 m-tall, rock fill dam located about 63 km east of Springfield, Oregon. Completed in 1963, the dam is owned and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). It impounds Cougar Reservoir, which is 9.7 km long, has a surface area of 518 ha,...
