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Raman analysis of the vapor phase formed after heating pure water to near critical (355–374 °C) temperatures in a hydrothermal diamond-anvil cell (HDAC) reveals the synthesis of abiogenic methane. This unexpected result demonstrates the chemical reactivity of diamond at relatively low temperatures. The rate of methane production from the reaction between...

In the northern Great Plains, native prairies managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) can be pivotal in conservation of North America's biological diversity. From 2002 to 2006, we surveyed 7,338 belt transects to assess the general composition of mixed-grass and tallgrass prairie vegetation across five "complexes" (i.e.,...

We examined home range behavior of female feral pigs (Sus scrofa) in a heavily hunted population on Fort Benning Military Reservation in west-central Georgia, USA. We used Global Positioning System location data from 24 individuals representing 18 sounders (i.e., F social groups) combined with markrecapture and camera-trap data to evaluate...

The U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) ShakeCast system is a freely-available, post-earthquake situational awareness application that automatically retrieves earthquake shaking data from ShakeMap, compares intensity measures against users' facilities, sends notifications of potential damage to responsible parties, and generates facility damage assessment maps and other Web-based products for emergency managers...

Presque Isle Bay, Lake Erie, was listed as an Area of Concern (AOC) by the International Joint Commission in part because of the high incidence of external tumor in brown bullheads. Verifying the source of the possible contaminant exposure is critical to addressing the AOC designation. We used telemetry tracking...

Climate affects the design, construction, safety, operations, and maintenance of transportation infrastructure and systems. The prospect of a changing climate raises critical questions regarding how alterations in temperature, precipitation, storm events, and other aspects of the climate could affect the nation's transportation system. This regional assessment of climate change and...

To investigate the role of migratory birds in the dissemination of West Nile virus (WNV), we measured the prevalence of infectious WNV and specific WNV neutralizing antibodies in birds, principally Passeriformes, during spring and fall migrations in the Atlantic and Mississippi flyways from 2001-2003. Blood samples were obtained from 13,403...

Asteroid and comet impact events are known to cause profound disruption to surface ecosystems. The aseptic collection of samples throughout a 1.76-km-deep set of cores recovered from the deep subsurface of the Chesapeake Bay impact structure has allowed the study of the subsurface biosphere in a region disrupted by an...

The Miocene Bear Lake Formation is exposed along the coast and mountains of the central Alaska Peninsula and extends offshore as part of the Bristol Bay Basin. The Bear Lake Formation is up to 2360 m (7743 ft) thick in an offshore well and is considered to have the highest...

Dominant modes of individual and joint variability in global sea surface temperatures (SST) and global Palmer drought severity index (PDSI) values for the twentieth century are identified through a multivariate frequency domain singular value decomposition. This analysis indicates that a secular trend and variability related to the El Niño–Southern Oscillation...

To ensure energy demands for reproduction are met, it is essential that marine birds breed during periods of peak food availability. We examined associations of the breeding chronology of common murres (Uria aalge) with the timing of the inshore arrival of their primary prey, capelin (Mallotus villosus) from 1980 to...

In this study, we have determined the crustal structure using three different receiver function methods using data collected from the northern transect of the Continental Dynamics of the Rocky Mountains (CD-ROM) experiment. The resulting migrated image and crustal thickness determinations confirm and refine prior crustal thickness measurements based on the...

Large scale geologic sequestration tests are in the planning stages around the world. The liability and safety issues of the migration of CO2 away from the primary injection site and/or reservoir are of significant concerns for these sequestration tests. Reservoir models for simulating single or multi-phase fluid flow are used...

We describe long-term pair bonds in the endangered Laysan Duck (Anas laysanensis), a dabbling duck endemic to the Hawaiian Archipelago. Individually marked birds were identified on Laysan Island between 1998 and 2006 (n = 613 marked adults). We recorded pair bonds while observing marked birds, and documented within and between...

We present marine high-resolution seismic reflection data from Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, to discern the underlying structure and estimate Quaternary slip rates in this actively extending Basin and Range system. The sediment patterns and structures imaged on our seismic profiles reveal a complex geologic system that reflects a changing climate...

Lake Huron has a rich aquatic habitat diversity that includes shallow embayments, numerous tributaries, shallow mid-lake reef complexes, archipelagos, and profundal regions. These habitats provide support for warm, cool, and cold water fish communities. Diversity of fishes in Lake Huron reflects post-glaciation colonization events, current climate conditions, accidental and intentional...

Understanding the consequences of hurricanes on the food resources available to neotropical-nearctic migrant songbirds may provide important insight into the effects of hurricanes on migratory populations. During autumn migration 2006 we investigated the foraging ecology of two species of insectivorous migrants, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea) and Yellow Warbler (Dendroica petechia),...

Late Quaternary turbidite and related gravity-flow deposits have accumulated in basins of the California Borderland under a variety of conditions of sediment supply and sea-level stand. The northern basins (Santa Barbara, Santa Monica, and San Pedro) are closed and thus trap virtually all sediment supplied through submarine canyons and smaller...

We use magnetic susceptibility and remanent magnetization measurements of the Eyreville and Cape Charles cores in combination with new and previously collected magnetic field data in order to constrain structural features within the inner basin of the Chesapeake Bay impact structure. The Eyreville core shows the first evidence of several-hundred-meter-thick...

The morphology, entrainment, and settling of suspended aggregates (“floc”) significantly impact fluxes of organic carbon, nutrients, and contaminants in aquatic environments. However, transport properties of highly organic floc remain poorly understood. In this study detrital floc was collected in the Florida Everglades from two sites with different abundances of periphyton...

For this study, I compared sequentially molted feathers for a few captive raptors from year to year and symmetrically matched feathers (left/right pairs) for many raptors to see if color patterns of sequential feather pairs were identical or if symmetrical pairs were mirror-image identical. Feather pairs were found to be...

Most groundwater produced within coastal Southern California occurs within three main types of siliciclastic basins: (1) deep (>600 m), elongate basins of the Transverse Ranges Physiographic Province, where basin axes and related fluvial systems strike parallel to tectonic structure, (2) deep (>6000 m), broad basins of the Los Angeles and...

Namakan Lake, located in shared border waters in northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Ontario, was subjected to several anthropogenic impacts including logging, damming, water-level manipulations, and perhaps climate change. We used paleolimnology to determine how these stressors impacted Namakan Lake in comparison to a control lake (Lac La Croix) that was...

The summer field camp experience provides many students with their best opportunity to learn the scientific process by making observations and collecting, recording, evaluating, and interpreting geologic data. Field school projects enhance student professional development by requiring cooperation and interpersonal interaction, report writing to communicate interpretations, and the development of...

The first probabilistic tsunami flooding maps have been developed. The methodology, called probabilistic tsunami hazard assessment (PTHA), integrates tsunami inundation modeling with methods of probabilistic seismic hazard assessment (PSHA). Application of the methodology to Seaside, Oregon, has yielded estimates of the spatial distribution of 100- and 500-year maximum tsunami amplitudes,...