2018 U.S. Geological Survey–California Geological Survey fault-imaging surveys across the Hollywood and Santa Monica Faults, Los Angeles County, California
Rufus D. Catchings, Janis Hernandez, Mark R. Goldman, Joanne H. Chan, Robert R. Sickler, Brian Olson, Coyn J. Criley
2020, Open-File Report 2020-1049
We acquired multiple types of seismic data across the Hollywood Fault in Hollywood, Calif., and the Santa Monica Fault in Beverly Hills, Calif., in May and June 2018. On the basis of our data, we infer near-surface locations of various traces of these faults.From two separate profiles across the Hollywood...
Compositional analysis of formation water geochemistry and microbiology of commercial and carbon dioxide-rich wells in the southwestern United States
Jenna L. Shelton, Robert S. Andrews, Denise M. Akob, Christina A. DeVera, Adam C. Mumford, Mark Engle, Michelle R. Plampin, Sean T. Brennan
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5037
Studies of naturally occurring subsurface carbon dioxide (CO2) accumulations can provide useful information for potential CO2 injection projects; however, the microbial communities and formation water geochemistry of most reservoirs are understudied. Formation water and microbial biomass were sampled at four CO2-rich reservoir sites: two within Bravo Dome, a commercial CO2...
Applications and utility of the surface elevation table–marker horizon method for measuring wetland elevation and shallow soil subsidence-expansion: Discussion/reply to: Byrnes M., Britsch L., Berlinghoff J., Johnson R., and Khalil S. 2019. Recent subsidence rates for Barataria Basin, Louisiana. Geo-Marine Letters 39:265–278
Donald R. Cahoon, Denise Reed, John W. Day, James C. Lynch, Andrew Swales, Robert R. Lane
2020, Geo-Marine Letters (40) 809-815
Byrnes et al. (Geo-Marine Letters 39:265–278, Byrnes et al. 2019) present subsidence data for Barataria Basin...
Projected impacts of climate change on the range and phenology of three culturally-important shrub species
Janet S. Prevey, Lauren E. Parker, Constance A Harrington
2020, PLoS ONE (15)
Climate change is shifting both the habitat suitability and the timing of critical biological events, such as flowering and fruiting, for plant species across the globe. Here, we ask how both the distribution and phenology of three food-producing shrubs native to northwestern North America might shift as the climate changes....
GeoNat v1.0: A dataset for natural feature mapping with artificial intelligence and supervised learning
Samantha T. Arundel, Wenwen Li, Sizhe Wang
2020, Transactions in GIS (24) 556-572
Machine learning allows “the machine” to deduce the complex and sometimes unrecognized rules governing spatial systems, particularly topographic mapping, by exposing it to the end product. Often, the obstacle to this approach is the acquisition of many good...
Chemical evaluation of water and gases collected from hydrothermal systems located in the central Aleutian arc, August 2015
Cynthia A. Werner, Christoph Kern, Peter J. Kelly
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5043
Five volcanic-hydrothermal systems in the central Aleutians Islands were sampled for water and gas geochemistry in 2015 to provide baseline data to help predict future volcanic unrest. Some areas had not been sampled in 20–30 years (Makushin volcano, Geyser Bight), and other areas had minimal to no prior sampling (Tana...
History and evolution of seepage meters for quantifying flow between groundwater and surface water: Part 1 – Freshwater settings
Donald O. Rosenberry, Carlos Duque, David R. Lee
2020, Earth-Science Reviews (204)
More than 75 years after its introduction, the seepage meter remains the only device for directly quantifying exchange across the sediment-water interface between groundwater and surface water. This device, first presented in the literature in the 1940s, has been in a state of near-constant improvement and design change, necessitating...
Geophysical characterization of the Northwest Geysers geothermal field, California
Jared R. Peacock, Tait E. Earney, Margret T. Mangan, William D. Schermerhorn, Jonathan M.G. Glen, Mark Walters, Craig Hartline
2020, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (339)
The Clear Lake Volcanic Field in northern California is the youngest and northern-most part of a long-lived volcanic system that has produced recent (~10 ka) eruptions. Adjacent to the Clear Lake Volcanic Field is the worlds largest energy producing geothermal field, The Geysers. The hottest part of The...
Isolating anthropogenic wetland loss by concurrently tracking inundation and land cover disturbance across the Mid-Atlantic Region, U.S.
Melanie K. Vanderhoof, Jay R. Christensen, Yen-Ju G. Beal, Ben DeVries, Megan W. Lang, Nora Hwang, Christine Mazzarella, John W. Jones
2020, Remote Sensing (12)
Global trends in wetland degradation and loss have created an urgency to monitor wetland extent, as well as track the distribution and causes of wetland loss. Satellite imagery can be used to monitor wetlands over time, but few efforts have attempted to distinguish anthropogenic wetland loss from climate-driven variability in...
Simulation of discharge, water-surface elevations, and water temperatures for the St. Louis River estuary, Minnesota-Wisconsin, 2016–17
Erik A. Smith, Richard L. Kiesling, Earl J. Hayter
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5028
The St. Louis River estuary is a large freshwater estuary, next to Duluth, Minnesota, that encompasses the headwaters of Lake Superior. The St. Louis River estuary is one of the most complex and compromised near-shore systems in the upper Great Lakes with a long history of environmental contamination caused by...
Prioritizing habitats based on abundance and distribution of molting waterfowl in the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area of the National Petroleum Reserve, Alaska
Paul L. Flint, Vijay Patil, Bradley Shults, Sarah J. Thompson
2020, Open-File Report 2020-1034
The National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A) encompasses more than 9.5 million hectares of federally managed land on the Arctic Coastal Plain of northern Alaska, where it supports a diversity of wildlife, including millions of migratory birds. Within the NPR-A, Teshekpuk Lake and the surrounding area provide important habitat for...
Combining genetic and demographic monitoring better informs conservation of an endangered urban snake
Dustin A. Wood, Jonathan P. Rose, Brian J. Halstead, Ricka E. Stoelting, Karen E Swaim, Amy G. Vandergast
2020, PLoS ONE (15)
Conversion and fragmentation of wildlife habitat often leads to smaller and isolated populations and can reduce a species’ ability to disperse across the landscape. As a consequence, genetic drift can quickly lower genetic variation and increase vulnerability to extirpation. For species of conservation concern, quantification of...
Ringed seal (Pusa hispida) seasonal movements, diving, and haul-out behavior in the Beaufort, Chukchi, and Bering Seas (2011–2017)
Andrew L. Von Duyke, David C. Douglas, Jason K Herreman, Justin A. Crawford
2020, Ecology and Evolution (10) 5595-5616
Continued Arctic warming and sea-ice loss will have important implications for the conservation of ringed seals, a highly ice-dependent species. A better understanding of their spatial ecology will help characterize emerging ecological trends and inform management decisions. We deployed satellite transmitters on ringed seals in the summers of 2011, 2014,...
Understanding nekton use of estuarine habitats in the northern Gulf of Mexico: Guidebook for natural resource managers and restoration practitioners
T. A. Hollweg, M. C. Christman, K. Sauby, J. Cebrian, Megan La Peyre
2020, Report
Without a comprehensive understanding of nekton use of key habitats across locations, natural resource managers and restoration practitioners in the northern Gulf of Mexico region lack a key tool to assist in their efforts to design, implement, and monitor effective coastal restoration and protection efforts in the decades to come....
Effect of spatial resolution of satellite images on estimating the greenness and evapotranspiration of urban green spaces
Hamideh Nouri, Pamela L. Nagler, Sattar Chavoshi Borujeni, Armando Barreto Munez, Sina Alaghmand, Behnaz Noori, Alejandro Galindo, Kamel Didan
2020, Hydrological Processes (34) 3183-3199
Urban green spaces (UGS), like most managed land covers, are getting progressively affected by water scarcity and drought. Preserving, restoring and expanding UGS require sustainable management of green and blue water resources to fulfil evapotranspiration (ET) demand for green plant cover. The heterogeneity of UGS with high variation in their...
Elevation and elevation-change maps of Fountain Creek, southeastern Colorado, 2015–19
Laura A. Hempel
2020, Scientific Investigations Map 3456
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Colorado Springs Utilities, has been collecting topographic data at 10 study areas along Fountain Creek, Colorado, annually since 2012. The 10 study areas are located between Colorado Springs and the terminus of Fountain Creek at the Arkansas River in Pueblo. The purpose of...
The relationship between biodiversity and wetland cover varies across regions of the conterminous United States
Jeremy S. Dertien, Stella Self, Beth Ross, Kyle Barrett, Robert F. Baldwin
Daehyun Kim, editor(s)
2020, PLoS ONE (15) 1-18
Identifying the factors that determine the spatial distribution of biodiversity is a major focus of ecological research. These factors vary with scale from interspecific interactions to global climatic cycles. Wetlands are important biodiversity hotspots and contributors of ecosystem services, but the association between proportional wetland cover and species richness has...
Using the Delphi process to gather information from a Bald Eagle expert panel
Rebecca Kolstrom, Tammy L. Wilson, Larry M. Gigliotti
2020, Natural Resource Report NPS/SWAN.NRR-2020/2128
Bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) populations are classified by the Southwest Alaska Network (SWAN) of the National Park Service as a vital sign of biological integrity, largely because of their importance as an indicator species for environmental contaminants and human disturbance. Though Bald Eagles are plentiful in Alaska, it is still...
Using small unmanned aircraft systems for measuring post-flood high-water marks and streambed elevations
Brandon T. Forbes, Geoffrey DeBenedetto, Jesse E. Dickinson, Claire Bunch, Faith A. Fitzpatrick
2020, Remote Sensing (12)
Floods affected approximately two billion people around the world from 1998–2017, causing over 142,000 fatalities and over 656 billion U.S. dollars in economic losses. Flood data, such as the extent of inundation and peak flood stage, are needed to define the environmental, economic, and social impacts of significant flood events....
Individual and population fitness consequences associated with large carnivore use of residential development
Heather E. Johnson, David Bruce Lewis, Stewart Breck
2020, Ecosphere (11)
Large carnivores are negotiating increasingly developed landscapes, but little is known about how such behavioral plasticity influences their demographic rates and population trends. Some investigators have suggested that the ability of carnivores to behaviorally adapt to human development will enable their persistence, and yet, others have suggested that such landscapes...
Exploring regional scale metamorphic fabrics in the Yukon Tanana terrane and environs using quantitative domain analyses
Jonathan Saul Caine, James V. Jones III
2020, Conference Paper, 2020 Cordilleran tectonics workshop program and abstracts
Metamorphic rock fabrics such as foliations and lineations provide a rock record of numerous deformational characteristics in the Earth’s crust. When spatial information is combined with fabric data collected at points on geologic maps, the nature and consistency of metamorphic fabrics can be explored through structural domain analysis. This is...
2019 National park visitor spending effects: Economic contributions to local communities, states, and the nation
Catherine Cullinane Thomas, Lynne Koontz
2020, Natural Resource Report NPS/NRSS/EQD/NRR—2020/2110
The National Park Service (NPS) manages the Nation’s most iconic destinations that attract millions of visitors from across the Nation and around the world. Trip-related spending by NPS visitors generates and supports economic activity within park gateway communities. This report summarizes the annual economic contribution analysis that measures how NPS...
Movement ecology and habitat use differences in Black Scoters wintering along the Atlantic coast
H. M. Plumpton, S. G. Gilliland, Beth Ross
2020, Avian Conservation and Ecology (15)
For migratory species such as Black Scoters (Melanitta americana) whose range encompasses a variety of habitats, it is especially important to obtain habitat use information across the species’ range to better understand anthropogenic threats, e.g., marine development and climate change. The objective of our study was to investigate the winter...
Fisheries research and monitoring activities of the Lake Erie Biological Station, 2019
Kevin R. Keretz, Patrick Kocovsky, Richard Kraus, Joseph Schmitt
2020, Report
A comprehensive understanding of fish populations and their interactions is the cornerstone of modern fishery management and the basis for Fish Community Goals and Objectives for Lake Erie (Ryan et al. 2003). This report is responsive to U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) obligations via Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Great...
Mineralogy and lithology of the Upper Cretaceous Niobrara Formation determined by hyperspectral core imaging
Justin E. Birdwell, Lionel C. Fontenot, Brigette Martini
2020, Mountain Geologist (57) 121-143
Sections of the Upper Cretaceous (Coniacian to Campanian) Niobrara Formation in two cores from Kansas and Colorado, the Amoco Rebecca Bounds and USGS Portland 1, respectively, were examined by hyperspectral core imaging and analysis. A spectral imaging system combining high-resolution photography (50 μm), 3D laser profiling (20 μm), and near-visible...
