Documentation and mapping of flooding from the January and March 2018 nor’easters in coastal New England
Pamela J. Lombard, Scott A. Olson, Luke P. Sturtevant, Rena D. Kalmon
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5109
In January and March 2018, coastal Massachusetts experienced flooding from two separate nor’easters. To put the January and March floods into historical context, the USGS computed statistical stillwater elevations. Stillwater elevations recorded in January 2018 in Boston (9.66 feet relative to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988) have an...
Responding to ecological transformation: Mental models, external constraints, and manager decision-making
Katherine R. Clifford, Amanda E. Cravens, Corrine N. Knapp
2021, BioScience (72) 57-70
Ecological transformation creates many challenges for public natural resource management and requires managers to grapple with new relationships to change and new ways to manage it. In the context of unfamiliar trajectories of ecological change, a manager can resist, accept, or direct change, choices that make up the resist-accept-direct...
Accounting for fine-scale forest structure is necessary to model snowpack mass and energy budgets in montane forests
Patrick D. Broxton, C. David Moeser, Adrian Harpold
2021, Water Resources Research (57)
Accurately modeling the effects of variable forest structure and change on snow distribution and persistence is critical to water resource management. The resolution of many snow models is too coarse to represent heterogeneous canopy structure in forests, and therefore, most models simplify forest effects on snowpack mass...
Cyanobacteria, cyanotoxin synthetase gene, and cyanotoxin occurrence among selected large river sites of the conterminous United States, 2017–18
Robert E. Zuellig, Jennifer L. Graham, Erin A. Stelzer, Keith A. Loftin, Barry H. Rosen
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5121
The U.S. Geological Survey measured cyanobacteria, cyanotoxin synthetase genes, and cyanotoxins at 11 river sites throughout the conterminous United States in a multiyear pilot study during 2017–19 through the National Water Quality Assessment Project to better understand the occurrence of cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins in large inland and coastal rivers. This...
Space-for-time is not necessarily a substitution when monitoring the distribution of pelagic fishes in the San Francisco Bay-Delta
Adam Duarte, James T. Peterson
2021, Ecology and Evolution (11) 16727-16744
Occupancy models are often used to analyze long-term monitoring data to better understand how and why species redistribute across dynamic landscapes while accounting for incomplete capture. However, this approach requires replicate detection/non-detection data at a sample unit and many long-term monitoring programs lack temporal replicate surveys. In such cases, it...
Update of the groundwater flow model for the Great Miami buried-valley aquifer in the vicinity of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio
Alexander D. Riddle
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5115
A previously constructed numerical model simulating the regional groundwater flow system in the vicinity of the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, was updated to incorporate current hydrologic stresses and conditions and improve the usefulness of the model for water-supply planning and protection. The original model, which simulated conditions...
Long-term variation in polar bear body condition and maternal investment relative to a changing environment
Todd C. Atwood, Karyn D. Rode, David C. Douglas, Kristin S. Simac, Anthony Pagano, Jeffrey F. Bromaghin
2021, Global Ecology and Conservation (32)
In the Arctic, warming air and ocean temperatures have resulted in substantial changes to sea ice, which is primary habitat for polar bears (Ursus maritimus). Reductions in extent, duration, and thickness have altered sea ice dynamics, which influences the ability of polar bears...
Are drought indices and climate data good indicators of ecologically relevant soil moisture dynamics in drylands?
David Barnard, Matthew J. Germino, John B. Bradford, Rory O’Connor, Caitlin M. Andrews, Robert K Shriver
2021, Ecological Indicators (133)
Droughts are disproportionately impacting global dryland regions where ecosystem health and function are tightly coupled to moisture availability. Drought severity is commonly estimated using algorithms such as the standardized precipitation-evapotranspiration index (SPEI), which can estimate climatic water balance impacts at various...
Impacts of climate change on groundwater availability and spring flows: Observations from the highly productive Medicine Lake Highlands/Fall River Springs Aquifer System
Lauren K Mancewicz, L. Davisson, Shawn J Wheelock, Erick R. Burns, Simon R. Poulson, Scott W. Tyler
2021, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (57) 1021-1036
Medicine Lake Highlands/Fall River Springs Aquifer System, located in northeastern California, is home to some of the largest first-order springs in the United States. This work assesses the likely effects of projected climate change on spring flow. Four anticipated climate futures (GFDL A2, GFDL B1, CCSM4...
Syn-eruptive hydration of volcanic ash records pyroclast-water interaction in explosive eruptions
Michael R. Hudak, Ilya N. Bindeman, Matthew W. Loewen, Thomas Giachetti
2021, Geophysical Research Letters (48)
Magma-water interaction can dramatically influence the explosivity of volcanic eruptions. However, syn- and post-eruptive diffusion of external (non-magmatic) water into volcanic glass remains poorly constrained and may bias interpretation of water in juvenile products. Hydrogen isotopes in ash from the 2009 eruption of Redoubt Volcano, Alaska, record...
Origin of the J-M Reef and Lower Banded series, Stillwater Complex, Montana, USA
Michael Jenkins, James E. Mungall, Michael L. Zientek, Gelu Costin, Zhuo-sen Yao
2021, Precambrian Research (367)
The origin and parental magma for layered cumulates in the Lower Banded series (LBS) and the J-M Reef Pd-Pt deposit of the Stillwater Complex remains poorly constrained. We present whole-rock lithogeochemistry and mineral chemistry from LBS rocks collected from drill holes...
Depths inferred from velocities estimated by remote sensing: A flow resistance equation-based approach to mapping multiple river attributes at the reach scale
Carl J. Legleiter, Paul J. Kinzel
2021, Remote Sensing (13)
Remote sensing of flow conditions in stream channels could facilitate hydrologic data collection, particularly in large, inaccessible rivers. Previous research has demonstrated the potential to estimate flow velocities in sediment-laden rivers via particle image velocimetry (PIV). In this study, we introduce a new framework for also obtaining...
Total phosphorus loadings for the Cedar River at Palo, Iowa, 2009–20
Jessica D. Garrett
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5127
In support of nutrient reduction efforts, total phosphorus loads and yields were computed using turbidity-surrogate and LOAD ESTimator (LOADEST) models for the Cedar River at Palo, Iowa, for January 1, 2009, to December 15, 2020. Sample data were used to create a total phosphorus concentration turbidity-surrogate model. Total phosphorus loads...
Modeling scenarios for the management of axis deer in Hawai‘i
Steve C. Hess, Seth Judge
2021, Pacific Science (75) 561-573
Axis deer (Axis axis) are invasive species that threaten native ecosystems and agriculture on Maui Island. To mitigate negative effects, it is necessary to understand current abundance, population trajectory, and how to most effectively reduce the population. Our objectives were to examine the population history...
Hazard-consistent seismic losses and collapse capacities for light-frame wood buildings in California and Cascadia
Robert Edward Chase, Abbie B. Liel, Nico Luco, Zach Bullock
2021, Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering (19) 6615-6639
We evaluate the seismic performance of modern seismically designed wood light-frame (WLF) buildings, considering regional seismic hazard characteristics that influence ground motion duration and frequency content and, thus, seismic risk. Results show that WLF building response correlates strongly with ground motion spectral shape but weakly with duration. Due to the...
Mineral deposit discovery order and three-part quantitative assessments
Donald A. Singer, Michael L. Zientek
2021, Ore Geology Reviews (139)
Larger oil pools tending to be discovered earlier in an exploration play suggests the same pattern might exist for mineral deposits and could be used in predicting sizes of undiscovered deposits in mineral assessments. The volume of individual...
Characterization of the biological, physical, and chemical properties of a toxic thin layer in a temperate marine system
Margaret A McManus, Adam T Greer, Amanda HV Timmerman, Jeff C Sevadjian, C. Brock Woodson, Robert Cowen, Derek A Fong, Stephen G. Monismith, Olivia M. Cheriton
2021, Marine Ecology Progress Series (MEPS) (678) 17-35
The distribution of plankton in the ocean is patchy across a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. One type of oceanographic feature that exemplifies this patchiness is a ‘thin layer’. Thin layers are subsurface aggregations of plankton that range in vertical thickness from centimeters to a few meters,...
Remotely sensed fine-fuel changes from wildfire and prescribed fire in a semi-arid grassland
Adam Gerhard Wells, Seth M. Munson, Steven Sesnie, Miguel L. Villarreal
2021, Fire (4)
The spread of flammable invasive grasses, woody plant encroachment, and enhanced aridity have interacted in many grasslands globally to increase wildfire activity and risk to valued assets. Annual variation in the abundance and distribution of fine-fuel present challenges to land managers implementing prescribed burns and mitigating wildfire, although methods to...
Preliminary geohydrologic assessment of Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge, Altar Valley, southeastern Arizona
Sandra J. Owen-Joyce, James B. Callegary, Amy Elizabeth Rosebrough
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5050
The Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge is located in the southern part of Altar Valley, southwest of Tucson in southeastern Arizona. The primary water-supply well at the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge has experienced a two-decade decrease in groundwater levels in the well, as have other wells in the southern...
Bottom-up and top-down control on hydrothermal resources in the Great Basin: An example from Gabbs Valley, Nevada
Jared R. Peacock, Drew L. Siler
2021, Geophysical Research Letters (48)
The Great Basin in the western United States hosts various hydrothermal systems, including both active geothermal systems and ancient systems preserved as mineral deposits. New magnetotelluric and structural geologic data were collected in the Gabbs Valley area of western Nevada to demonstrate the advantage of imaging the...
Multilayer perceptrons (MLPs)
C. Ozgen Karacan
2021, Book chapter, Encyclopedia of Mathematical Geosciences
Artificial neural networks (ANNs) are adaptable systems that can solve problems that are difficult to describe with a mathematical relationship. They seek relationships between different types of datasets with their abilities to learn either with supervision or without. ANNs recognize patterns between input and output space...
Decision-support framework for linking regional-scale management actions to continental-scale conservation of wide-ranging species
Erik E. Osnas, G. Scott Boomer, James H. Devries, Michael C. Runge
2021, Open-File Report 2020-1084
Anas acuta (Northern pintail; hereafter pintail) was selected as a model species on which to base a decision-support framework linking regional actions to continental-scale population and harvest objectives. This framework was then used to engage stakeholders, such as Landscape Conservation Cooperatives’ (LCCs’) habitat management partners within areas of importance to...
Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) version 5.1 user guide
Emily A. Himmelstoss, Rachel E. Henderson, Meredith G. Kratzmann, Amy S. Farris
2021, Open-File Report 2021-1091
The Digital Shoreline Analysis System version 5 software is an add-in to Esri ArcGIS Desktop version 10.4–10.7 that enables a user to calculate rate-of-change statistics from a time series of vector shoreline positions. The Digital Shoreline Analysis System provides an automated method for establishing measurement locations, performs rate calculations, provides...
Hydrogeomorphic recovery and temporal changes in rainfall thresholds for debris flows following wildfire
Olivia J. Hoch, Luke A. McGuire, Ann M. Youberg, Francis K. Rengers
2021, JGR Earth Surface (126)
Wildfire-induced changes to soil and vegetation promote runoff-generated debris flows in steep watersheds. Postfire debris flows are most commonly observed in steep watersheds during the first wet season following a wildfire, but it is unclear how long the elevated threat of debris flow persists and why debris-flow...
Shoreface and Holocene sediment thickness offshore of Rockaway Peninsula, New York
Emily A. Wei, Jennifer L. Miselis, Arnell S. Forde
2021, Open-File Report 2021-1100
During September and October 2019, the U.S. Geological Survey mapped the shoreface and inner continental shelf offshore of the Rockaway Peninsula in New York using high-resolution chirp seismic reflection and single-beam bathymetry geophysical techniques. The results from this study are important for assessing the Quaternary evolution of the Rockaway Peninsula...
