Suspended sediment and sediment-associated contaminants in San Francisco Bay
D. H. Schoellhamer, T.E. Mumley, J.E. Leatherbarrow
2007, Environmental Research (105) 119-131
Water-quality managers desire information on the temporal and spatial variability of contaminant concentrations and the magnitudes of watershed and bed-sediment loads in San Francisco Bay. To help provide this information, the Regional Monitoring Program for Trace Substances in the San Francisco Estuary (RMP) takes advantage of the association of many contaminants with sediment particles...
Aeromagnetic mapping of the structure of Pine Canyon caldera and Chisos Mountains intrusion, Big Bend National Park, Texas
B. J. Drenth, C. A. Finn
2007, Geological Society of America Bulletin (119) 1521-1534
Analysis of aeromagnetic and gravity data reveals new details of the structure, igneous geology, and temporal evolution of the prominent, enigmatic ca.32 Ma Pine Canyon caldera and the Chisos Mountains (Big Bend National Park, Texas). The main caldera-filling Pine Canyon Rhyolite, the oldest member of the South Rim Formation, is...
Amphibians and disease: Implications for conservation in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
Paul Stephen Corn
2007, Yellowstone Science (15) 11-16
The decline of amphibian populations is a world-wide phenomenon that has received increasing attention since about 1990. In 2004, the World Conservation Union’s global amphibian assessment concluded that 48% of the world’s 5,743 described amphibian species were in decline, with 32% considered threatened (Stuart et al. 2004). Amphibian declines are...
First documentation of tidal-channel sponge biostromes (upper Pleistocene, southeastern Florida)
K.J. Cunningham, J.K. Rigby, M.A. Wacker, H.A. Curran
2007, Geology (35) 475-478
Sponges are not a common principal component of Cenozoic reefs and are more typically dominant in deep-water and/or cold-water localities. Here we report the discovery of extensive upper Pleistocene shallow-marine, tropical sponge biostromes from the Mami Limestone of southeastern Florida built by a new ceractinomorph demosponge. These upright, barrel- to...
Responses of pond-breeding amphibians to wildfire: Short-term patterns in occupancy and colonization
B. R. Hossack, P.S. Corn
2007, Ecological Applications (17) 1403-1410
Wildland fires are expected to become more frequent and severe in many ecosystems, potentially posing a threat to many sensitive species. We evaluated the effects of a large, stand-replacement wildfire on three species of pond-breeding amphibians by estimating changes in occupancy of breeding sites during the three years before and...
Chesapeake Inundation Prediction System (CIPS): A regional prototype for a national problem
B. Stamey, W. Smith, K. Carey, D. Garbin, F. Klein, Hongfang Wang, J. Shen, W. Gong, J. Cho, D. Forrest, C. Friedrichs, W. Boicourt, M. Li, M. Koterba, D. King, J. Titlow, E. Smith, A. Siebers, J. Billet, J. Lee, Douglas R. Manning, G. Szatkowski, D. Wilson, P. Ahnert, J. Ostrowski
2007, Conference Paper, Oceans Conference Record (IEEE)
Recent Hurricanes Katrina and Isabel, among others, not only demonstrated their immense destructive power, but also revealed the obvious, crucial need for improved storm surge forecasting and information delivery to save lives and property in future storms. Current operational methods and the storm surge and inundation products do not adequately...
Fate and identification of oil-brine contamination in different hydrogeologic settings
Donald O. Whittemore
2007, Applied Geochemistry (22) 2099-2114
Past disposal of oil-field brine at the surface has caused substantial contamination of water resources in Kansas. Natural saline water occurs in and discharges from Permian bedrock in parts of the state, and other anthropogenic sources of saline water exist, requiring clear identification of different sources. Time-series analysis of Cl-...
Sulfur species behavior in soil organic matter during decomposition
A.W. Schroth, B.C. Bostick, M. Graham, J.M. Kaste, M.J. Mitchell, A. J. Friedland
2007, Journal of Geophysical Research G: Biogeosciences (112)
Soil organic matter (SOM) is a primary re??servoir of terrestrial sulfur (S), but its role in the global S cycle remains poorly understood. We examine S speciation by X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy to describe S species behavior during SOM decomposition. Sulfur species in SOM were best represented by...
Scales of equilibrium and disequilibrium during cleavage formation in chlorite and biotite-grade phyllites, SE Vermont
C. K. McWilliams, R. P. Wintsch, Michael J. Kunk
2007, Journal of Metamorphic Geology (25) 895-913
Detailed electron microprobe analyses of phyllosilicates in crenulated phyllites from south-eastern Vermont show that grain-scale zoning is common, and sympathetic zoning in adjacent minerals is nearly universal. We interpret this to reflect a pressure-solution mechanism for cleavage development, where precipitation from a very small fluid reservoir fractionated that fluid. Multiple...
Survival of wood duck ducklings and broods in Mississippi and Alabama
J. B. Davis, R. R. Cox Jr., R.M. Kaminski, B.D. Leopold
2007, Journal of Wildlife Management (71) 507-517
Although North American wood ducks (Aix sponsa) are well-studied throughout their range, researchers know little about demographic and environmental factors influencing survival of ducklings and broods, which is necessary information for population management. We studied radiomarked female and duckling wood ducks that used nest boxes and palustrine wetlands at Noxubee...
Recent results on the spatiotemporal modelling and comparative analysis of Black Death and bubonic plague epidemics
G. Christakos, Ricardo A. Olea, H.-L. Yu
2007, Public Health (121) 700-720
Background: This work demonstrates the importance of spatiotemporal stochastic modelling in constructing maps of major epidemics from fragmentary information, assessing population impacts, searching for possible etiologies, and performing comparative analysis of epidemics. Methods: Based on the theory previously published by the authors and incorporating new knowledge bases, informative maps of...
Distribution of light and heavy fractions of soil organic carbon as related to land use and tillage practice
Zhengxi Tan, R. Lal, L. Owens, R. C. Izaurralde
2007, Soil and Tillage Research (92) 53-59
Mass distributions of different soil organic carbon (SOC) fractions are influenced by land use and management. Concentrations of C and N in light- and heavy fractions of bulk soils and aggregates in 0–20 cm were determined to evaluate the role of aggregation in SOC sequestration under conventional tillage (CT), no-till (NT),...
Impacts of Hurricane Katrina on floodplain forests of the Pearl River
Stephen Faulkner, Wylie Barrow, Brady R. Couvillion, William Conner, Lori Randall, Michael Baldwin
2007, Circular 1306-6A
Floodplain forests are an important habitat for Neotropical migratory birds. Hurricane Katrina passed through the Pearl River flood plain shortly after making landfall. Field measurements on historical plots and remotely sensed data were used to assess the impact of Hurricane Katrina on the structure of floodplain forests of the Pearl...
Monitoring Hurricane Rita Inland Storm Surge
Benton D. McGee, Roland W. Tollett, Burl B. Goree
2007, Circular 1306-7J
Pressure transducers (sensors) are accurate, reliable, and cost-effective tools to measure and record the magnitude, extent, and timing of hurricane storm surge. Sensors record storm-surge peaks more accurately and reliably than do high-water marks. Data collected by sensors may be used in storm-surge models to estimate when, where, and to...
Characterization of flood sediments from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and potential implications for human health and the environment
Geoffrey S. Plumlee, William T. Foreman, Dale W. Griffin, John K. Lovelace, Gregory P. Meeker, Charles R. Demas
2007, Circular 1306-7I
The flooding in the greater New Orleans, La., area that resulted from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in August and September 2005 left behind accumulations of sediments up to many centimeters thick on streets, lawns, parking lots, and other flat surfaces (fig. 1). During the flood dewatering and subsequent cleanup, there...
Environmental impact of Hurricane Katrina on Lake Pontchartrain
Thomas Heitmuller, Brian C. Perez
2007, Circular 1306-7G
Hurricane Katrina slammed the Louisiana-Mississippi Gulf Coast with 135-mi/hour (217-km/hour) winds and up to a 30-ft (9-m) storm surge. Lake Pontchartrain was further subjected to environmental threat by way of the millions of gallons of contaminated flood water that were pumped daily from the city of New Orleans into the...
Effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on the chemistry of bottom sediments in Lake Pontchartrain, La.
Peter C. Van Metre, Arthur J. Horowitz, Barbara Mahler, William T. Foreman, Christopher C. Fuller, Mark R. Burkhardt, Kent A. Elrick, Edward T. Furlong, Stanley C. Skrobialowski, James J. Smith, Jennifer T. Wilson, Stephen D. Zaugg
2007, Circular 1306-7F
Concerns about the effect of pumping contaminated flood waters into Lake Pontchartrain following the hurricanes of 2005 prompted the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to sample street mud, canal-suspended sediment, and bottom sediment in Lake Pontchartain. The samples were analyzed for a wide variety of potential inorganic and organic contaminants. Results...
Extreme changes to barrier islands along the central Gulf of Mexico coast during Hurricane Katrina
Asbury Sallenger, Wayne Wright, Jeff Lillycrop, Peter Howd, Hilary Stockdon, Kristy K. Guy, Karen Morgan
2007, Circular 1306-5C
Hurricane Katrina caused extreme changes to the barrier islands of the central Gulf of Mexico coast. Dauphin Island, Ala., migrated landward and stranded the remains of its oceanfront row homes in the sea. Chandeleur Islands, La., were completely stripped of their sand, leaving only marshy outcrops in the storm's wake....
Sediment deposition from Hurricane Rita on Hackberry Beach chenier in southwestern Louisiana
Stephen Faulkner, Wylie Barrow, Thomas Doyle, Michael Baldwin, Thomas Michot, Christopher Wells, Clint Jeske
2007, Circular 1306-6E
Hurricane Rita significantly impacted the chenier forests of southwestern Louisiana, an important habitat for Neotropical migratory birds. Sediment deposition was measured along transects at Hackberry Beach chenier, and Rita's effects on chenier structure and morphology were determined....
Wind damage and salinity effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on coastal baldcypress forests of Louisiana
Thomas W. Doyle, William H. Conner, Richard H. Day, Ken W. Krauss, Christopher M. Swarzenski
2007, Circular 1306-6F
The frequency of hurricane landfall in a given coastal stretch may play a more important role in the ecology of coastal forests than previously thought because of direct and indirect impacts of fallen trees and the introduction of salt water that lingers long after the storm passes. Findings show that...
Broad-scale response of landbird migration to the immediate effects of Hurricane Katrina
Wylie Barrow Jr., J. Buler, Brady R. Couvillion, Robb Diehl, Stephen Faulkner, F. Moore, Lori Randall
2007, Circular 1306-6B
It was the midst of songbird migration season when Hurricane Katrina hit the Louisiana coast in 2005. Typically these birds fatten up in Gulf Coast river bottomland forest for the long flight to Central and South America. After Katrina stripped plants of leaves, fruits, and insects in the fertile bottomlands...
Use of rapid analysis technologies for the field identification and on-site confirmation of avian influenza
John Y. Takekawa
David Mello, editor(s)
2007, Book chapter, Biodetection technologies: technological responses to biological threats
No abstract available....
Effects of imposed salinity gradients on dissimilatory arsenate reduction, sulfate reduction, and other microbial processes in sediments from two California soda lakes
T.R. Kulp, S. Han, C.W. Saltikov, B.D. Lanoil, K. Zargar, Ron Oremland
2007, Applied and Environmental Microbiology (73) 5130-5137
Salinity effects on microbial community structure and on potential rates of arsenate reduction, arsenite oxidation, sulfate reduction, denitrification, and methanogenesis were examined in sediment slurries from two California soda lakes. We conducted experiments with Mono Lake and Searles Lake sediments over a wide range of salt concentrations...
Contaminated salmon and the public's trust
Samuel N. Luoma, Ragnar E. Lofstedt
2007, Environmental Science & Technology (41) 1811-1814
Scientific uncertainties often make it difficult for environmental policy makers to determine how to communicate risks to the public. A constructive, holistic, multisectoral dialogue about an issue can improve understanding of uncertainties from different perspectives and clarify options for risk communication. Many environmental issues could benefit from explicit promotion of...
USGS National Wildlife Health Center's Quarterly Wildlife Mortality Report (North America)
M. Jankowski, K. Schuler, J. Bradsby
2007, Supplement to the Journal of Wildlife Diseases (43)
