Calibration of models using groundwater age
Ward E. Sanford
2011, Hydrogeology Journal (19) 13-16
There have been substantial efforts recently by geochemists to determine the age of groundwater (time since water entered the system) and its uncertainty, and by hydrologists to use these data to help calibrate groundwater models. This essay discusses the calibration of models using groundwater age, with conclusions that emphasize what...
Nest success of grassland sparrows on reclaimed surface mines
G.E. Stauffer, Duane R. Diefenbach, M.R. Marshall, D.W. Brauning
2011, Journal of Wildlife Management (75) 548-557
Grasslands resulting from surface mine reclamation support grassland songbird populations in several midwestern and eastern states in the United States, especially where reclaimed mines are large (>1,000ha). However, most reclaimed surface mines in Pennsylvania are small (<200ha), and nest success is unknown. We evaluated nest success of grasshopper (Ammodramus savannarum),...
Epistemic uncertainty in California-wide synthetic seismicity simulations
F. F. Pollitz
2011, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (101) 2481-2498
The generation of seismicity catalogs on synthetic fault networks holds the promise of providing key inputs into probabilistic seismic-hazard analysis, for example, the coefficient of variation, mean recurrence time as a function of magnitude, the probability of fault-to-fault ruptures, and conditional probabilities for foreshock-mainshock triggering. I employ a seismicity simulator...
Positive feedback and momentum growth during debris-flow entrainment of wet bed sediment
Richard M. Iverson, Mark E. Reid, Matthew Logan, Richard G. Lahusen, Jonathan W. Godt, Julia P. Griswold
2011, Nature Geoscience (4) 116-121
Debris flows typically occur when intense rainfall or snowmelt triggers landslides or extensive erosion on steep, debris-mantled slopes. The flows can then grow dramatically in size and speed as they entrain material from their beds and banks, but the mechanism of this growth is unclear. Indeed, momentum conservation implies that...
Sources and physical processes responsible for OH/H2O in the lunar soil as revealed by the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3)
T. B. McCord, L.A. Taylor, J. #NAME? Combe, G. Kramer, C.M. Pieters, J.M. Sunshine, R. N. Clark
2011, Journal of Geophysical Research E: Planets (116)
Analysis of two absorption features near 3 m in the lunar reflectance spectrum, observed by the orbiting M3 spectrometer and interpreted as being due to OH and H2O, is presented, and the results are used to discuss the processes producing these molecules. This analysis focuses on the dependence of the...
Impacts of Land-Cover Change on Suspended Sediment Transport in Two Agricultural Watersheds
K. E. Schilling, T.M. Isenhart, J.A. Palmer, C.F. Wolter, J. Spooner
2011, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (47) 672-686
Suspended sediment is a major water quality problem, yet few monitoring studies have been of sufficient scale and duration to assess the effectiveness of land-use change or conservation practice implementation at a watershed scale. Daily discharge and suspended sediment export from two 5,000-ha watersheds in central Iowa were monitored over...
Three-dimensional model of an ultramafic feeder system to the Nikolai Greenstone mafic large igneous province, central Alaska Range
Jonathan M.G. Glen, Jeanine M. Schmidt, G. G. Connard
2011, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (12)
The Amphitheater Mountains and southern central Alaska Range expose a thick sequence of Triassic Nikolai basalts that is underlain by several mafic‐ultramafic complexes, the largest and best exposed being the Fish Lake and Tangle (FL‐T) mafic‐ultramafic sills that flank the Amphitheater Mountains synform. Three‐dimensional (3‐D) modeling of gravity and magnetic...
Imaging using cross-hole seismoelectric tomography
A.H. Araji, A. Revil, A. Jardani, B. Minsley
2011, SEG Technical Program Expanded Abstracts (30) 469-473
We propose a new cross-hole imaging approach based on seismoelectric conversions associated with the transmission of seismic waves from seismic sources located in a borehole to receivers electrodes located in a second borehole. The seismoelectric seismic-to-electric problem is solved using Biot theory coupled with a generalized Ohm's law with an...
Atomic weights of the elements 2009 (IUPAC technical report)
M.E. Wieser, Tyler B. Coplen
2011, Pure and Applied Chemistry (83) 359-396
The biennial review of atomic-weight determinations and other cognate data has resulted in changes for the standard atomic weights of 11 elements. Many atomic weights are not constants of nature, but depend upon the physical, chemical, and nuclear history of the material. The standard atomic weights of 10 elements having...
Trap style influences wild pig behavior and trapping success
B.L. Williams, R.W. Holtfreter, S.S. Ditchkoff, J. Barry Grand
2011, Journal of Wildlife Management (75) 432-436
Despite the efforts of many natural resource professionals, wild pig (Sus scrofa) populations are expanding in many areas of the world. Although many creative techniques for controlling pig populations are being explored, trapping has been and still is the most commonly used method of population control for many public and...
Rangewide phylogeography and landscape genetics of the Western U.S. endemic frog Rana boylii (Ranidae): Implications for the conservation of frogs and rivers
A.J. Lind, P.Q. Spinks, G. M. Fellers, H.B. Shaffer
2011, Conservation Genetics (12) 269-284
Genetic data are increasingly being used in conservation planning for declining species. We sampled both the ecological and distributional limits of the foothill yellow-legged frog, Rana boylii to characterize mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation in this declining, riverine amphibian. We evaluated 1525 base pairs (bp) of cytochrome b and ND2 fragments...
Widespread plant species: Natives versus aliens in our changing world
T.J. Stohlgren, P. Pysek, J. Kartesz, M. Nishino, A. Pauchard, M. Winter, J. Pino, D.M. Richardson, J.R.U. Wilson, B.R. Murray, M.L. Phillips, L. Ming-yang, L. Celesti-Grapow, X. Font
2011, Biological Invasions (13) 1931-1944
Estimates of the level of invasion for a region are traditionally based on relative numbers of native and alien species. However, alien species differ dramatically in the size of their invasive ranges. Here we present the first study to quantify the level of invasion for several regions of the world...
Mg-spinel lithology: A new rock type on the lunar farside
C.M. Pieters, S. Besse, J. Boardman, B. Buratti, L. Cheek, R. N. Clark, J. #NAME? Combe, D. Dhingra, J.N. Goswami, R.O. Green, J.W. Head, P. Isaacson, R. Klima, G. Kramer, S. Lundeen, E. Malaret, T. McCord, J. Mustard, J. Nettles, N. Petro, C. Runyon, M. Staid, J. Sunshine, L.A. Taylor, K. Thaisen, S. Tompkins, J. Whitten
2011, Journal of Geophysical Research E: Planets (116)
High-resolution compositional data from Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M 3) for the Moscoviense region on the lunar farside reveal three unusual, but distinctive, rock types along the inner basin ring. These are designated "OOS" since they are dominated by high concentrations of orthopyroxene, olivine, and Mg-rich spinel, respectively. The OOS occur...
The use (and misuse) of sediment traps in coral reef environments: Theory, observations, and suggested protocols
C. D. Storlazzi, M.E. Field, Michael H. Bothner
2011, Coral Reefs (30) 23-38
Sediment traps are commonly used as standard tools for monitoring “sedimentation” in coral reef environments. In much of the literature where sediment traps were used to measure the effects of “sedimentation” on corals, it is clear from deployment descriptions and interpretations of the resulting data that information derived from sediment...
Is the northern high-latitude land-based CO2 sink weakening?
D.J. Hayes, A. D. McGuire, D. W. Kicklighter, K.R. Gurney, T.J. Burnside, J. M. Melillo
2011, Global Biogeochemical Cycles (25)
Studies indicate that, historically, terrestrial ecosystems of the northern high-latitude region may have been responsible for up to 60% of the global net land-based sink for atmospheric CO2. However, these regions have recently experienced remarkable modification of the major driving forces of the carbon cycle, including surface air temperature warming...
An isotopic approach to measuring nitrogen balance in caribou
David D. Gustine, Perry S. Barboza, Layne G. Adams, Richard G. Farnell, Katherine L. Parker
2011, Journal of Wildlife Management (75) 178-188
Nutritional restrictions in winter may reduce the availability of protein for reproduction and survival in northern ungulates. We refined a technique that uses recently voided excreta on snow to assess protein status in wild caribou (Rangifer tarandus) in late winter. Our study was the first application of this non‐invasive, isotopic...
Land cover classification for Fanno Creek, Oregon
Steven Sobieszczyk
2011, Report
Fanno Creek is a tributary to the Tualatin River and flows though parts of the southwest Portland metropolitan area. The stream is heavily influenced by urban runoff and shows characteristic flashy streamflow and poor water quality commonly associated with urban streams. This data set represents the floodplain land cover as...
Copper localization, elemental content, and thallus colour in the copper hyperaccumulator lichen Lecanora sierrae from California
O. W. Purvis, J. P. Bennett, J. Spratt
2011, Lichenologist (43) 165-173
An unusual dark blue-green lichen, Lecanora sierrae, was discovered over 30 years ago by Czehura near copper mines in the Lights Creek District, Plumas County, Northern California. Using atomic absorption spectroscopy, Czehura found that dark green lichen samples from Warren Canyon contained 4% Cu in ash and suggested that its...
Development of the USGS national land-cover database over two decades
George Z. Xian, Collin G. Homer, Limin Yang
Qihao Weng, editor(s)
2011, Book chapter, Advances in environmental remote sensing
Land-cover composition and change have profound impacts on terrestrial ecosystems. Land-cover and land-use (LCLU) conditions and their changes can affect social and physical environments by altering ecosystem conditions and services. Information about LCLU change is often used to produce landscape-based metrics and evaluate landscape conditions to monitor LCLU status and...
A Digital Hydrologic Network Supporting NAWQA MRB SPARROW Modeling--MRB_E2RF1
J. W. Brakebill, S.E. Terziotti
2011, Report
A digital hydrologic network was developed to support SPAtially Referenced Regression on Watershed attributes (SPARROW) models within selected regions of the United States. These regions correspond with the U.S. Geological Survey's National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program Major River Basin (MRB) study units 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7 (Preston...
Solid sample locations for Fanno Creek, Oregon
Steven Sobieszczyk
2011, Report
Fanno Creek is a tributary to the Tualatin River and flows though parts of the southwest Portland metropolitan area. The stream is heavily influenced by urban runoff and shows characteristic flashy streamflow and poor water quality commonly associated with urban streams. This data set represents the locations where solid samples...
Stream Centerline for Fanno Creek, Oregon
Steven Sobieszczyk
2011, Report
Fanno Creek is a tributary to the Tualatin River and flows though parts of the southwest Portland metropolitan area. The stream is heavily influenced by urban runoff and shows characteristic flashy streamflow and poor water quality commonly associated with urban streams. This data set represents the stream centerline of the...
Water sample locations for Fanno Creek, Oregon
Steven Sobieszczyk
2011, Report
Fanno Creek is a tributary to the Tualatin River and flows though parts of the southwest Portland metropolitan area. The stream is heavily influenced by urban runoff and shows characteristic flashy streamflow and poor water quality commonly associated with urban streams. This data set represents the locations where water-quality samples...
Genetic and environmental influences on leaf phenology and cold hardiness of native and introduced riparian trees
Jonathan M. Friedman, J. E. Roelle, B.S. Cade
2011, International Journal of Biometeorology (55) 775-787
To explore the roles of plasticity and genetic variation in the response to spatial and temporal climate variation, we established a common garden consisting of paired collections of native and introduced riparian trees sampled along a latitudinal gradient. The garden in Fort Collins, Colorado (latitude 40.6°N), included 681 native plains...
The relative importance of physicochemical factors to stream biological condition in urbanizing basins: Evidence from multimodel inference
Daren M. Carlisle, Wade L. Bryant Jr.
2011, Freshwater Science (31) 154-166
Many physicochemical factors potentially impair stream ecosystems in urbanizing basins, but few studies have evaluated their relative importance simultaneously, especially in different environmental settings. We used data collected in 25 to 30 streams along a gradient of urbanization in each of 6 metropolitan areas (MAs) to evaluate the relative importance...
