To burn or not to burn Oriental bittersweet: A fire manager’s conundrum
Noel B. Pavlovic, Stacey A. Leicht-Young, Krystal Frohnapple, Neal Mulconrey
2009, Report
Oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus) is a highly invasive liana (woody vine) that occurs throughout the Eastern United States. This twining plant can blanket and girdle adjacent vegetation, affecting succession and damaging trees. In areas where prescribed fire is a management tool, the response of Oriental bittersweet to fire needs to...
Capacitively Coupled Resistivity Survey of Selected Irrigation Canals Within the North Platte River Valley, Western Nebraska and Eastern Wyoming, 2004 and 2007-2009
Bethany L. Burton, Michaela R. Johnson, Joseph Vrabel, Brian H. Imig, Jason Payne, Ryan E. Tompkins
2009, Scientific Investigations Report 2009-5194
Due to water resources of portions of the North Platte River basin being designated as over-appropriated by the State of Nebraska Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the North Platte Natural Resources District (NPNRD), in cooperation with the DNR, is developing an Integrated Management Plan (IMP) for groundwater and surface water...
Volcanic processes and geology of Augustine Volcano, Alaska
Richard B. Waitt, James E. Beget
2009, Professional Paper 1762
Augustine Island (volcano) in lower Cook Inlet, Alaska, has erupted repeatedly in late-Holocene and historical times. Eruptions typically beget high-energy volcanic processes. Most notable are bouldery debris avalanches containing immense angular clasts shed from summit domes. Coarse deposits of these avalanches form much of Augustine's lower flanks. A new geologic...
Watershed Models for Decision Support for Inflows to Potholes Reservoir, Washington
Mark C. Mastin
2009, Scientific Investigations Report 2009-5081
A set of watershed models for four basins (Crab Creek, Rocky Ford Creek, Rocky Coulee, and Lind Coulee), draining into Potholes Reservoir in east-central Washington, was developed as part of a decision support system to aid the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, in managing water resources in...
Preliminary geologic map of the Vermejo Peak area, Colfax and Taos Counties, New Mexico and Las Animas and Costilla Counties, Colorado
Christopher J. Fridrich, Ralph R. Shroba, Charles L. Pillmore, Adam M. Hudson
2009, Open-File Report 2009-1189
This geologic map covers four 7.5-minute quadrangles-The Wall, NM-CO (New Mexico-Colorado), Vermejo Park, NM-CO, Ash Mountain, NM, and Van Bremmer Park, NM. The study area straddles the boundary between the eastern flank of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and the western margin of the Raton Basin, with about two-thirds of...
Chloride in Groundwater and Surface Water in Areas Underlain by the Glacial Aquifer System, Northern United States
John R. Mullaney, David L. Lorenz, Alan D. Arntson
2009, Scientific Investigations Report 2009-5086
A study of chloride in groundwater and surface water was conducted for the glacial aquifer system of the northern United States in forested, agricultural, and urban areas by analyzing data collected for the National Water-Quality Assessment Program from 1991 to 2004. Groundwater-quality data from a sampling of 1,329 wells in 19...
Geophysical Characterization of the Quaternary-Cretaceous Contact Using Surface Resistivity Methods in Franklin and Webster Counties, South-Central Nebraska
Andrew Teeple, Wade H. Kress, James C. Cannia, Lyndsay B. Ball
2009, Scientific Investigations Report 2009-5092
To help manage and understand the Platte River system in Nebraska, the Platte River Cooperative Hydrology Study (COHYST), a group of state and local governmental agencies, developed a regional ground-water model. The southern boundary of this model lies along the Republican River, where an area with insufficient geologic data immediately...
Geomorphic classification of the Lower Platte River, Nebraska
Caroline M. Elliott, Brittany L. Huhmann, Robert B. Jacobson
2009, Scientific Investigations Report 2009-5198
Geomorphic attributes were collected from natural color aerial orthophotography to develop a multiscale classification for the downstream-most 220 kilometers of the Platte River in eastern Nebraska. The intent of this classification is to define discrete reaches that have geomorphic characteristics favorable to endangered interior least terns (Sternula antillarum) and threatened...
Bathymetric, Velocity, Streamflow, and Dissolved Oxygen Data on the Pee Dee River near Bostick Boat Landing, Florence County, South Carolina, May-August 2007
John M. Shelton
2009, Data Series 315
Santee Cooper is planning to construct an electricity generating station in southeastern Florence County near the Kingsburg community. As part of this project, a water-intake structure will be constructed on the Pee Dee River near the Bostick Boat Landing, which is located east of the intersection of State secondary roads...
Geochemical investigation of the Arbuckle-Simpson Aquifer, South-Central Oklahoma, 2004-06
Scott Christenson, Andrew G. Hunt, David L. Parkhurst
2009, Scientific Investigations Report 2009-5036
A geochemical reconnaissance investigation of the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer in south-central Oklahoma was initiated in 2004 to characterize the ground-water quality at an aquifer scale, to describe the chemical evolution of ground water as it flows from recharge areas to discharge in wells and springs, and to determine the residence time...
Low prevalence of Trichomonas gallinae in urban and migratory Cooper's Hawks in northcentral North America
Robert N. Rosenfield, Stephen J. Taft, William E. Stout, Timothy G. Driscoll, David L. Evans, Michael A. Bozek
2009, Wilson Journal of Ornithology (121) 641-644
Trichomoniasis is a digestive tract disease caused by ingestion of the protozoan Trichomonas gallinae. This disease can be a significant source of mortality. No deaths of nestlings could be attributed to trichomoniasis in Cooper's Hawks (Accipiter cooperii) breeding in urban and rural environs in Wisconsin, North Dakota, and British Columbia. We...
Land-Cover Change in the East Central Texas Plains, 1973-2000
Krista A. Karstensen
2009, Open-File Report 2009-1164
Project Background: The Geographic Analysis and Monitoring (GAM) Program of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Land Cover Trends project is focused on understanding the rates, trends, causes, and consequences of contemporary U.S. land-use and land-cover change. The objectives of the study are to: (1) develop a comprehensive methodology for using...
Prevention, early detection and containment of invasive, nonnative plants in the Hawaiian Islands: current efforts and needs
Christoph Kueffer, Lloyd Loope
2009, Report
Introduction: Invasive, non-native plants (or environmental weeds) have long been recognized as a major threat to the native biodiversity of oceanic islands (Cronk & Fuller, 1995; Denslow, 2003). Globally, several hundred non-native plant species have been reported to have major impacts on natural areas on oceanic islands (Kueffer et al.,...
Geochemistry and geochronology of carbonate-hosted base metal deposits in the southern Brooks Range, Alaska: Temporal association with VMS deposits and metallogenic implications
Karen Kelly, John Slack, David Selby
2009, Conference Paper, Smart science for exploration and mining: Proceedings of the 10th Biennial SGA Meeting, Townsville, Australia 17th-20th August 2009
The Brooks Range contains enormous accumulations of zinc and copper, either as VMS or sediment-hosted deposits. The Ruby Creek and Omar deposits are Cu-Co stratabound deposits associated with dolomitic breccias. Numerous volcanogenic Cu-Zn (+/-Ag, Au) deposits are situated ~20 km north of the Ruby Creek deposit. The carbonate-hosted deposits consist...
Mercury in fish, bed sediment, and water from streams across the United States, 1998-2005
Barbara C. Scudder, Lia C. Chasar, Dennis A. Wentz, Nancy J. Bauch, Mark E. Brigham, Patrick W. Moran, David P. Krabbenhoft
2009, Scientific Investigations Report 2009-5109
Mercury (Hg) was examined in top-predator fish, bed sediment, and water from streams that spanned regional and national gradients of Hg source strength and other factors thought to influence methylmercury (MeHg) bioaccumulation. Sampled settings include stream basins that were agricultural, urbanized, undeveloped (forested, grassland, shrubland, and wetland land cover), and...
Impact of wildfire on levels of mercury in forested watershed systems: Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota
Laurel G. Woodruff, Mark B. Sandheinrich, Mark E. Brigham, William F. Cannon
2009, Scientific Investigations Report 2009-5151
Atmospheric deposition of mercury to remote lakes in mid-continental and eastern North America has increased approximately threefold since the mid-1800s (Swain and others, 1992; Fitzgerald and others, 1998; Engstrom and others, 2007). As a result, concerns for human and wildlife health related to mercury contamination have become widespread. Despite an...
Economics of undiscovered oil and gas in the North Slope of Alaska: Economic update and synthesis
Emil D. Attanasi, Philip A. Freeman
2009, Open-File Report 2009-1112
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has published assessments by geologists of undiscovered conventional oil and gas accumulations in the North Slope of Alaska; these assessments contain a set of scientifically based estimates of undiscovered, technically recoverable quantities of oil and gas in discrete oil and gas accumulations that can be...
Magnetotelluric and audiomagnetotelluric groundwater survey along the Humu'ula portion of Saddle Road near and around the Pohakuloa Training Area, Hawaii
Herbert A. Pierce, Donald M. Thomas
2009, Open-File Report 2009-1135
The Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA), operated by the U.S. Army on the Big Island of Hawaii, is in need of a reliable potable water supply to sustain ongoing operations by staff and trainees. In an effort to acquire baseline hydrologic data with which to develop a plan for providing that...
Earthquake hazard in the New Madrid Seismic Zone remains a concern
A.D. Frankel, D. Applegate, M.P. Tuttle, R. A. Williams
2009, Fact Sheet 2009-3071
There is broad agreement in the scientific community that a continuing concern exists for a major destructive earthquake in the New Madrid seismic zone. Many structures in Memphis, Tenn., St. Louis, Mo., and other communities in the central Mississippi River Valley region are vulnerable and at risk from severe ground...
An Examination of Selected Historical Rainfall-Induced Debris-Flow Events within the Central and Southern Appalachian Mountains of the Eastern United States
Gerald F. Wieczorek, L. Scott Eaton, Benjamin A. Morgan, R.M. Wooten, M. Morrissey
2009, Open-File Report 2009-1155
Generally, every several years, heavy amounts of rainfall trigger a large number of debris flows within the central and southern Appalachian Mountains of the Eastern United States. These types of landslides damage buildings, disrupt infrastructure, and occasionally injure and kill people. One of the first large debris flows was described...
Relations between sinkhole density and anthropogenic contaminants in selected carbonate aquifers in the eastern United States
Bruce D. Lindsey, Brian G. Katz, Marian P. Berndt, Ann F. Ardis, Kenneth A. Skach
2009, Environmental Earth Sciences (60) 1073-1090
The relation between sinkhole density and water quality was investigated in seven selected carbonate aquifers in the eastern United States. Sinkhole density for these aquifers was grouped into high (>25 sinkholes/100 km2), medium (1–25 sinkholes/100 km2), or low (<1 sinkhole/100 km2) categories using a geographical information system that included four independent databases covering...
Simulation of the Regional Ground-Water-Flow System and Ground-Water/Surface-Water Interaction in the Rock River Basin, Wisconsin
Paul F. Juckem
2009, Scientific Investigations Report 2009-5094
A regional, two-dimensional, areal ground-water-flow model was developed to simulate the ground-water-flow system and ground-water/surface-water interaction in the Rock River Basin. The model was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Rock River Coalition. The objectives of the regional model were to improve understanding of the...
Characterization of Groundwater Quality Based on Regional Geologic Setting in the Piedmont and Blue Ridge Physiographic Provinces, North Carolina
Stephen L. Harden, Melinda J. Chapman, Douglas A. Harned
2009, Scientific Investigations Report 2009-5149
A compilation of groundwater-quality data collected as part of two U.S. Geological Survey studies provides a basis for understanding the ambient geochemistry related to geologic setting in the Piedmont and Blue Ridge Physiographic Provinces (hereafter referred to as Piedmont and Mountains Provinces) of North Carolina. Although the geology is complex,...
Preliminary study of the effect of the proposed Long Lake Valley project operation on the transport of larval suckers in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon
Tamara M. Wood
2009, Open-File Report 2009-1060
A hydrodynamic model of Upper Klamath and Agency Lakes, Oregon, was used to explore the effects of the operation of proposed offstream storage at Long Lake Valley on transport of larval suckers through the Upper Klamath and Agency Lakes system during May and June, when larval fish leave spawning sites...
Evaluation of hazardous faults in the intermountain west region: Summary and recommendations of a workshop
Anthony J. Crone, Kathleen M. Haller, Joseph Z. Maharrey
2009, Open-File Report 2009-1140
The U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) Earthquake Hazards Program (EHP) has the responsibility to provide nationwide information and knowledge about earthquakes and earthquake hazards as a step to mitigating earthquake-related losses. As part of this mission, USGS geologists and geophysicists continue to study faults and structures that have the potential to...
