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The Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS) was used to develop and calibrate a streamflow and water balance model for the Red River Basin as part of the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Census, a research effort focused on developing innovative water accounting...

In 2007, the U.S. Geological Survey partnered with Fairfax County, Virginia, to establish a long-term water-resources monitoring program to evaluate the hydrology, water quality, and ecology of Fairfax County streams and the watershed-scale effects of management practices. Fairfax County uses a variety of management practices, policies, and programs to protect...

Groundwater in the karst groundwater system at Area B of Fort Detrick in Frederick County, Maryland, is contaminated with chlorinated solvents from the past disposal of laboratory wastes. In cooperation with U.S. Army Environmental Command and U.S. Army Garrison Fort Detrick, the U.S. Geological Survey performed a 3-year study to...

Executive SummaryChromium concentrations in rock and aquifer material in Hinkley and Water Valleys in the Mojave Desert, 80 miles northeast of Los Angeles, California, are generally low compared to the average chromium concentration of 185 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg) in the average bulk continental crust. Chromium concentrations in felsic, coarse-textured...

Process-based, large-scale (e.g., conterminous United States [CONUS]) hydrologic models have struggled to achieve reliable streamflow drought performance in arid regions and for low-flow periods. Deep learning has recently seen broad implementation in streamflow prediction and forecasting research projects throughout the world with performance often equaling or exceeding that of process-based...

To assess the status and trends of conditions of surface waters throughout Mississippi, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), summarized concentrations and estimated loads, yields, trends, and spatial and temporal patterns of total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) at 20 stream...

During water years 2013–18, the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment Project sampled the National Water Quality Network for Rivers and Streams year-round and reported on 221 pesticides at 72 sites across the United States. Pesticides are difficult to measure, their concentrations often represent discrete snapshots in time, and capturing...

New and previously published stratigraphic data define Holocene to present sediment storage time scales for Mid-Atlantic river corridors. Empirical distributions of deposit ages and thicknesses were randomly sampled to create synthetic age-depth records. Deposits predating European settlement accumulated at a (median) rate of 0.06 cm yr−1, range from ∼18,000 to...

Streamflow in rivers can be separated into a relatively steady component, or baseflow, that represents reliably available surface water and more dynamic components of runoff that typically represent a large fraction of total streamflow. A spatially aggregated numerical time-series model was developed to separate the baseflow component of a...

Porphyry and epithermal deposits are important sources of base and precious metals. Most actively mined deposits have been exhumed such that ore bodies are relatively close to the surface and are therefore locatable and economic to extract. Identifying and characterizing concealed deposits, particularly more deeply buried porphyry deposits, represents...

The Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS) was used to develop a simulation of watershed hydrology on the island of Puerto Rico for the period 1981–2017, concentrating on the Río Grande de Arecibo, a river with some of the highest streamflows on the island. This development is part of the U.S....

We develop an empirical, spatially continuous model for the single-station within-event (ϕSS) component of earthquake ground motion variability in the Los Angeles area. ϕSS represents event-to-event variability in site response or remaining variability due to path effects not captured by ground motion models. Site-specific values of ϕSS at permanent seismic...

The 15- to 65-m-thick informal Uteland Butte member of the Eocene Green River Formation represents the first widespread transgression of Lake Uinta in the Uinta Basin, Utah. This study assesses the spatial and temporal variation of Uteland Butte member deposits along a 40-km transect in the southwestern margin of the...

Using images from an updated and expanded three-dimensional electrical conductivity synthesis model for the contiguous United States (CONUS), we highlight the key continent-scale geoelectric structures that are associated with the Precambrian assembly of southern Laurentia. Conductivity anomalies are associated with the Trans-Hudson orogen, the Penokean suture, the ca. 1.8–1.7 Ga...

The landscape in Mars Transverse Mercator (MTM) −10022 and −15022 quadrangles (lat −7.5° N. to −17.5° N. between long 335° E. and 340° E.) in Margaritifer Terra preserves a record of sedimentary and alluvial deposits, volcanic and tectonic structures, and erosional landforms that record a long and complex geologic and...

Groundwater levels have declined since the 1940s in the Wailuku area of central Maui, Hawai‘i, on the eastern flank of West Maui volcano, mainly in response to increased groundwater withdrawals. Available data since the 1980s also indicate a thinning of the freshwater lens and an increase in chloride concentrations of...

Ecosystem metabolism quantifies the rate of production, maintenance, and decay of organic matter in terrestrial and aquatic systems. It is a fundamental measure of energy flow associated with biomass production by photosynthesizing organisms and biomass oxidation by respiring plants, animals, algae, and bacteria (Bernhardt et al., 2022) . Ecosystem metabolism...

The golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) is commonly recognized as an indicator of ecosystem health and was selected as an important indicator species for the ecological health of lands owned and managed by East Bay Stewardship Network (Network) partner agencies within the area of focus for this project (See map, Chapter...

Groundwater development has increased substantially in southeastern Oregon’s Harney Basin since 2010, mainly for the purpose of large-scale irrigation. Concurrently, some areas of the basin experienced groundwater-level declines of more than 100 feet, and some shallow wells have gone dry. The Oregon Water Resources Department has limited new groundwater...

This technical report summarizes the work that was conducted by the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the United States Geological Survey (USGS), along with other project partners, on the Fishway Entrance Palisade (EP), a projected funded through the Department of Energy’s (DOE) funding opportunity titled ‘Innovative Solutions for Fish Passage...

Organic matter (OM) accumulation in organic matter-rich mudstones, or black shales, is generally recognized to be controlled by combinations of bioproductivity, preservation, and dilution. However, specific triggers of OM deposition in these formations are commonly difficult to identify with geochemical proxies, in part because of feedbacks that cause geochemical proxies...

The Aeolis Dorsa region of Mars, located just north of the global dichotomy boundary, includes the Aeolis and Zephyria Plana, and a depositional basin between them. This interplana region consists of extensive networks of ridges—the eponymous Aeolis Dorsa—and is interpreted as having formed by topographic inversion of fluvial and alluvial...

Hydrologic records used to create previously published maps depicting mean annual runoff are biased to a relatively dry period in Oklahoma history that was dominated by droughts. Therefore, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Oklahoma Water Resources Board, developed an updated mean annual runoff and annual runoff...

The autumn and winter flood season of western Washington coincides with the incubation period of many Pacific salmon (Onchorhynchus spp.) populations. During this period, salmon embryos incubating within gravel nests called “redds” are vulnerable to mobilization of surrounding sediment during floods. As overlying sediment is transported downstream, the vertical...

Executive SummaryGlobal food and water security analysis and management require precise and accurate global cropland-extent maps. Existing maps have limitations, in that they are (1) mapped using coarse-resolution remote-sensing data, resulting in the lack of precise mapping location of croplands and their accuracies; (2) derived by collecting and collating national...