U.S. Geological Survey—Department of the Interior Region 11, Alaska —2020 annual science report
Elizabeth M. Powers, Dee M. Williams, editor(s)
2021, Open-File Report 2021-1010
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Mission: The USGS national mission is to monitor, analyze, and predict current and evolving dynamics of complex human and natural Earth-system interactions and to deliver actionable information at scales and timeframes relevant to decision-makers. Consistent with the national mission, the USGS in Alaska provides...
Expected warning times from the ShakeAlert earthquake early warning system for earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest
Jeffrey J. McGuire, Deborah E. Smith, Arthur D. Frankel, Erin A. Wirth, Sara K. McBride, Robert M. de Groot
2021, Open-File Report 2021-1026
The ShakeAlert® earthquake early warning system has been live since October 2019 for the testing of public alerting to mobile devices in California and will soon begin testing this modality in Oregon and Washington. The Pacific Northwest presents new challenges and opportunities for ShakeAlert owing to the different types of...
Sagebrush conservation strategy—Challenges to sagebrush conservation
Thomas E. Remington, Patricia A. Deibert, Steve E. Hanser, Dawn M. Davis, Leslie A. Robb, Justin L. Welty
2021, Open-File Report 2020-1125
The sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) biome, its wildlife, and the services and benefits it provides people and local communities are at risk. Development in the sagebrush biome, for many purposes, has resulted in multiple and often cumulative negative impacts. These impacts, ranging from simple habitat loss to complex, interactive changes in...
Estimated total phosphorus loads for selected sites on Great Lakes tributaries, water years 2014–2018
G. F. Koltun
2021, Open-File Report 2020-1145
Monthly and annual total phosphorus loads were estimated for water years 2014 through 2018 for 23 streamgaged (gaged) sites on tributaries to the Great Lakes. Processing and regression methods described by Robertson and others (2018) were used with discrete and continuous data collected during water years 2011 and 2018 to...
Practical field survey operations for flood insurance rate maps
Nicholas J. Taylor, Caelan E. Simeone
2021, Open-File Report 2020-1146
The U.S. Geological Survey assists the Federal Emergency Management Agency in its mission to identify flood hazards and zones for risk premiums for communities nationwide, by creating flood insurance rate maps through updating hydraulic models that use river geometry data. The data collected consist of elevations of river channels, banks,...
Spatial variation in population dynamics of northern Great Plains piping plovers
Rose J. Swift, Michael J. Anteau, Kristen S. Ellis, Megan M. Ring, Mark H. Sherfy, Dustin L. Toy, David N. Koons
2021, Open-File Report 2020-1152
Metapopulation dynamics are determined not only by within-patch birth and death processes but also by between-patch movements of individuals (emigration and immigration). To conserve and manage a species that has a metapopulation structure, defined by local populations that are distributed among patches of suitable habitat, we need to understand each...
Rock gnome lichen (Gymnoderma lineare) monitoring assessment, southern Appalachian Mountains, 1983–2008
Andrea Woodward
2021, Open-File Report 2021-1011
Rock gnome lichen (Gymnoderma lineare [Evans] Yoshimura and Sharp) was listed as a federally endangered species in 1995. It is endemic to the southern Appalachian Mountains, with most known populations occurring in North Carolina, where it grows on vertical rock faces in the fog zone above an elevation...
Hydrographic and benthic mapping—St. Croix National Scenic Riverway—Osceola landing
Jenny L. Hanson, Jayme Stone
2021, Open-File Report 2020-1149
High-resolution topographic and bathymetric mapping can assist in the analysis of river habitat. The National Park Service has been planning to relocate a boat ramp along the St. Croix River in Minnesota, across the river from the town of Osceola, Wisconsin, to improve visitor safety, improve operations for commercial use,...
Mangrove species’ response to sea-level rise across Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia
Kevin J. Buffington, Richard A. MacKenzie, Joel A. Carr, Maybeleen Apwong, Ken W. Krauss, Karen M. Thorne
2021, Open-File Report 2021-1002
Mangrove forests are likely vulnerable to accelerating sea-level rise; however, we lack the tools necessary to understand their future resilience. On the Pacific island of Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia, mangroves are habitat to endangered species and provide critical ecosystem services that support local communities. We developed a generalizable modeling...
Aeromagnetic map of Burney and the surrounding area, northeastern California
Victoria E. Langenheim
2021, Open-File Report 2021-1006
An aeromagnetic survey was conducted to improve understanding of the geology and structure in the area around Burney, northeastern California. The new data are a substantial improvement over existing data and reveal a prominent north northwest-trending magnetic grain that allows extension of mapped faults, delineation of plutons within the Mesozoic...
Using high resolution satellite and telemetry data to track flooded habitats, their use by waterfowl, and evaluate effects of drought on waterfowl and shorebird bioenergetics in California
Elliott Matchett, Matthew Reiter, Cory T. Overton, Dennis Jongsomjit, Michael L. Casazza
2021, Open-File Report 2020-1102
Wetland managers in the Central Valley of California, a dynamic hydrological landscape, require information regarding the amount and location of existing wetland habitat to make decisions on how to best use water resources to support multiple wildlife objectives, particularly during drought. Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey Western Ecological...
Estimation of suspended sediment at a discontinued streamgage on the lower Minnesota River at Fort Snelling State Park, Minnesota
Joel T. Groten, Jon S. Hendrickson, Linda R. Loomis
2021, Open-File Report 2021-1005
In the spring of 2019, ice sheets transported down-stream during a large streamflow rise event in the lower Minnesota River destroyed an index-velocity streamgage at the Minnesota River at Fort Snelling State Park, Minnesota (U.S. Geological Survey station 05330920; hereafter referred to as “Ft. Snelling”). The streamgage previously used an...
Summary of fish communities along Underwood Creek, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 2004–2019
Amanda H. Bell, Daniel J. Sullivan, Barbara C. Scudder Eikenberry
2021, Open-File Report 2020-1112
Beginning in 2010, sections of Underwood Creek in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, have undergone reconstruction to allow for improved fish habitat and better management of storm flows. In addition, dam and drop structures were removed to help improve fish migration while reintroducing several native fish species. With the reconstruction of Underwood...
Summary of available data from the monarch overwintering colonies in central Mexico, 1976–1991
Erin R Zylstra, Wayne E. Thogmartin, M. Isabel Ramirez, Elise F. Zipkin
2021, Open-File Report 2020-1150
Historical estimates of the area occupied by overwintering Danaus plexippus (monarchs) in central Mexico (between winters of 1976 and 1991) were published in García-Serrano and others (2004) and more recently in Mawdsley and others (2020). Our primary objectives were to identify the specific data that informed those estimates and, importantly,...
Estimates of county-level nitrogen and phosphorus from fertilizer and manure from 1950 through 2017 in the conterminous United States
James A. Falcone
2021, Open-File Report 2020-1153
This report and associated dataset provide tabular county-level estimates of kilograms of nitrogen and phosphorus generated from two sources: (a) fertilizer from commercial sources and (b) livestock-based manure, for the period 1950 through 2017 for the conterminous United States. Datasets collected during this time span are for intervals of approximately...
Characterizing fault roughness—Are faults rougher at long or short wavelengths?
Nicholas M. Beeler
2021, Open-File Report 2020-1134
Changes in fault roughness with scale, “scaling,” is the topic of this report; changes are considered using a general power law relation between some measure of surface height, H, and another of length, L, H=kLn, where k is a constant and n is an exponent that characterizes the scaling. Extensive...
Modeling Least Bell’s Vireo habitat suitability in current and historic ranges in California
Kristine L. Preston, Barbara E. Kus, Emily Perkins
2021, Open-File Report 2020-1151
We developed a habitat suitability model for the federally endangered Least Bell’s Vireo (Vireo bellii pusillus) across its current and historic range in California. The vireo disappeared from most of its range by the 1980s, remaining only in southern California and northern Baja California, Mexico. This decline was due to...
Sediment mobility and river corridor assessment for a 140-kilometer segment of the main-stem Klamath River below Iron Gate Dam, California
Jennifer Curtis, Travis Poitras, Sandra Bond, Kristin Byrd
2021, Open-File Report 2020-1141
This river corridor assessment documents sediment mobility and river response to flood disturbance along a 140-kilometer segment of the main-stem Klamath River below Iron Gate Dam, California. Field and remote sensing methods were used to assess fundamental indicators of active sediment transport and river response to a combination of natural...
Nearshore water quality and coral health indicators along the west coast of the Island of Hawaiʻi, 2010–2014
Eric E. Grossman, Lisa Marrack, Nathan R. vanArendonk
2021, Open-File Report 2020-1128
Coral reefs worldwide are experiencing rapid degradation in response to climate and land-use change, namely effects of warming sea-surface temperatures, contaminant runoff, and overfishing. Extensive coral bleaching caused by the steady rise of sea-surface temperatures is projected to increase, but our understanding and ability to predict where corals may be...
Development and application of surrogate models, calculated loads, and aquatic export of carbon based on specific conductance, Big Cypress National Preserve, south Florida, 2015–17
Amanda Booth
2021, Open-File Report 2020-1136
Understanding the carbon transport within aquatic environments is crucial to quantifying global and local carbon budgets, yet limited empirical data currently (2021) exist. This report documents methodology and provides data for quantifying the aquatic export of carbon from a cypress swamp within Big Cypress National Preserve and is part of...
An assessment of the economic potential of lignite and leonardite resources in the Williston Basin, North Dakota
Brian N. Shaffer
2021, Open-File Report 2020-1135
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) requested assistance from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to conduct an assessment study to identify areas that may have economic potential for the future extraction of lignite and leonardite resources in the Williston Basin in North Dakota. The study will be used by the...
U.S. Geological Survey Community for Data Integration 2019 Workshop Proceedings—From big data to smart data
Leslie Hsu
2021, Open-File Report 2020-1132
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Community for Data Integration (CDI) Workshop was held during June 3–7, 2019, at Center Green in Boulder, Colo. The theme of the workshop was “From Big Data to Smart Data” with the purpose of bringing together the community to discuss current topics, shared challenges, and...
Focus areas for data acquisition for potential domestic resources of 11 critical minerals in Alaska—Aluminum, cobalt, graphite, lithium, niobium, platinum group elements, rare earth elements, tantalum, tin, titanium, and tungsten, chap. C of U.S. Geological Survey, Focus areas for data acquisition for potential domestic sources of critical minerals
Douglas C. Kreiner, James V. Jones III
2020, Open-File Report 2019-1023-C
Phase 2 of the Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI) focuses on geologic belts that are favorable for hosting mineral systems that may contain select critical minerals. Phase 1 of the Earth MRI program focused on rare earth elements (REE), and phase 2 adds aluminum, cobalt, graphite, lithium, niobium, platinum-group...
Focus areas for data acquisition for potential domestic resources of 11 critical minerals in the conterminous United States, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico—Aluminum, cobalt, graphite, lithium, niobium, platinum-group elements, rare earth elements, tantalum, tin, titanium, and tungsten
Jane M. Hammarstrom, Connie L. Dicken, Warren C. Day, Albert H. Hofstra, Benjamin J. Drenth, Anjana K. Shah, Anne E. McCafferty, Laurel G. Woodruff, Nora K. Foley, David A. Ponce, Thomas P. Frost, Lisa L. Stillings
2020, Open-File Report 2019-1023-B
In response to a need for information on potential domestic sources of critical minerals, the Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI) was established to identify and prioritize areas for acquisition of new geologic mapping, geophysical data, and elevation data to improve our knowledge of the geologic framework of the United...
Major-element compositional data and thermal data for drill core from Kīlauea Iki lava lake, plus analyses of glasses from scoria of the 1959 summit eruption of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaii
Rosalind Tuthill Helz
2020, Open-File Report 2020-1012
This report presents electron microprobe data on glasses and selected crystalline phases from Kīlauea Iki lava lake and glasses from the 1959 summit eruption of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaii. Some of these data have been published previously, but the complete set has not been published before. In addition, this report includes...
