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Mauritania anticipates an increase in mining activities throughout the country and into the foreseeable future. Because mining-induced changes in the landscape are likely to affect their limited ground-water resources and sensitive aquatic ecosystems, a water-quality assessment program was designed for Mauritania that is based on a nationally consistent environmental stratification...

The effects of forest clearcutting and selective harvesting on forest soils, soil and stream water chemistry, forest regrowth, and aquatic communities were studied in four small headwater catchments. This research was conducted to identify the sensitivity of forested ecosystems to forest disturbance in the northeastern United States. The study area...

The U.S. Geological Survey collected stream discharge, stage, salinity, and water-temperature data near the mouths of 11 tributaries flowing into the Ten Thousand Islands area of Florida from October 2004 to June 2005. Maximum positive discharge from Barron River and Faka Union River was 6,000 and 3,200 ft3/s, respectively; no...

To evaluate the potential for transport of radionuclides in ground water from the proposed high-level nuclear-waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, conservative (nonsorbing) tracer tests were conducted among three boreholes, known as the C-hole Complex, and values for transport (or flow) porosity, storage (or matrix) porosity, longitudinal dispersivity, and the...

In August of 1996, the U.S. Geological Survey conducted geophysical surveys of Lakes Mabel and Starr, central Florida, as part of the Central Highlands Lakes project, which is part of a larger USGS Lakes and Coastal Aquifers (LCA) study. This report serves as an archive of unprocessed digital boomer seismic...

A mechanistic water-temperature model was constructed by the U.S. Geological Survey for use by the Bureau of Reclamation for studying the effect of potential water management decisions on water temperature in the Yakima River between Roza and Prosser, Washington. Flow and water temperature data for model input were obtained from...

The University of Wisconsin (UW)-Madison Discovery Farms (Discovery Farms) and UW-Platteville Pioneer Farm (Pioneer Farm) programs were created in 2000 to help Wisconsin farmers meet environmental and economic challenges. As a partner with each program, and in cooperation with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the Sand County Foundation,...

The Lower and Combined Aquifers of the Eastbank Aquifer system, located in a river-terrace deposit along the Columbia River near Rocky Reach Dam, Washington, are primarily recharged by the Columbia River and provide water to the Eastbank Hatchery and the regional water system servicing the cities of Wenatchee, East Wenatchee,...

Environmental managers are often faced with the task of designing strategies to accommodate development while minimizing adverse environmental impacts. Low-impact development (LID) is one such strategy that attempts to mitigate environmental degradation commonly associated with impervious surfaces. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources,...

Earthquakes can be triggered by local changes in the stress field (static triggering1,<a id="ref-link-section-d22341e333" title="Stein,...

A small number of mud, road bed soil, and snow samples were collected in 2005 and 2006 to assess metal concentrations and loadings to areas adjacent to the DeLong Mountain Regional Transportation System (DMTS) road in northwest Alaska. The DMTS road is used by large trucks to transport lead and...

Multi-year droughts have been a recurrent feature of the climate and hydrology of Kansas since at least the 1930s. Streamflow records collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) indicate that water years 2000 to 2006 (October 1, 1999, through September 30, 2006) represent the sixth hydrologic drought during the past...

The map area includes San Luis and the primarily rural surrounding area. San Luis, the county seat of Costilla County, is the oldest surviving settlement in Colorado (1851). West of the town are San Pedro and San Luis mesas (basalt-covered tablelands), which are horsts with the San Luis fault zone...

The map area includes Fort Garland, Colo., and the surrounding area, which is primarily rural. Fort Garland was established in 1858 to protect settlers in the San Luis Valley, then part of the Territory of New Mexico. East of the town are the Garland mesas (basalt-covered tablelands), which are uplifted...

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) analyzed changes in the configuration of land and water in coastal Louisiana by using a sequential series of 14 data sets summarizing land and water areas from 1956 to 2006. The purpose of this study is to provide a spatially and temporally consistent source of...

Ground-water quality in the approximately 950 square kilometer (370 square mile) Central Sierra study unit (CENSIE) was investigated in May 2006 as part of the Priority Basin Assessment project of the Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program. The GAMA Priority Basin Assessment project was developed in response to the...

Potentially harmful to humans and other animals, the red-rimmed melania snail (Melanoides tuberculatus; family Thiaridae) was discovered in Biscayne National Park, Florida, in 2003 by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) researchers. The discovery raised concerns for park managers because this aquatic non-native snail is present in significant numbers in areas frequently...

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Seventh Biennial Geographic Information Science (GIS) Workshop (USGS-GIS 2008) on May 12 through 16, 2008, at the Denver Federal Center in Denver, Colorado, is unique in that it brings together GIS professionals from all of the USGS disciplines across all regions, and focuses primarily on...

This is the initial publication of the results of a cooperative project to examine the implications of a major earthquake in southern California. The study comprised eight counties: Imperial, Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, and Ventura. Its results will be used as the basis of an...

Recent climate studies in New England and the northeastern United States have shown evidence of physical changes over time, including trends toward earlier snowmelt runoff, decreasing river ice, and increasing spring water temperatures. A U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) study funded by the National Global Warming and Wildlife Science Center will...

The question is not if but when southern California will be hit by a major earthquake - one so damaging that it will permanently change lives and livelihoods in the region. How severe the changes will be depends on the actions that individuals, schools, businesses, organizations, communities, and governments take...

Volcanoes have been erupting in the Cascade Range for over 500,000 years. During the past 4,000 years eruptions have occurred at an average rate of about 2 per century. This chart shows 13 volcanoes on a map of Washington, Oregon, and northern California and time lines for each showing the...

Most volcano hazards are associated with eruptions. However, some hazards, such as lahars and debris avalanches, can occur even when a volcano is not erupting....

Cyanobacteria and associated toxins and taste-and-odor compounds are of increasing environmental concern. However, consistent guidelines for the development of studies assessing cyanobacterial toxins and taste-and-odor compounds presently are not available. This report provides guidance for the development of scientific studies of cyanobacteria and associated by-products in lakes and reservoirs. Topics...

Mount St. Helens has erupted more frequently than any other volcano in the Cascade Range during the past 4,000 years. The volcano has exhibited a variety of eruption styles?explosive eruptions of pumice and ash, slow but continuous extrusions of viscous lava, and eruptions of fluid lava. Evidence of the volcano?s...