Assessing spatial and temporal patterns in sagebrush steppe vegetation communities 2012-2018: Grand Teton National Park
Christian Stratton, Andrew Hoegh, Kathryn M. Irvine, Kristin Legg, Kelly McCloskey, Erin K. Shanahan, Mike Tercek, David Thoma
2019, Natural Resource Report NPS/GRYN/NRR-2019/2020
Visual cover class data were collected on over 80 species across 30 permanent sampling frames in sagebrush steppe vegetation communities in Grand Teton National Park from 2012 to 2018. In this report, temporal and spatial patterns in species composition were assessed and used to inform potential sampling strategies for future...
Monitoring, forecasting collapse events, and mapping pyroclastic deposits at Sinabung volcano with satellite imagery
John S. Pallister, Rick Wessels, Julia P. Griswold, Wendy A. McCausland, Nugraha Kartadinata, Hendra Gunawan, Agus Budianto, Sofyan Primulyana
2019, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (382) 149-163
During the ongoing (2013–present) eruption of Sinabung volcano, north Sumatra, we have routinely used a variety of satellite remote sensing data to observe and forecast lava dome and lava flow collapse events, to map the resulting pyroclastic deposits, and to estimate effusion rates. In this paper, we focus on the first two years of the current eruption...
Preface: Marine gas hydrate reservoir systems along the eastern continental margin of India: Results of the National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 02
Timothy S. Collett, Pushpendra Kumar, Ray Boswell, William Waite
2019, Journal of Marine and Petroleum Geology (108) 1-2
The 2015 India National Gas Hydrate Program (NGHP) Expedition 02 was conducted to obtain new information on the occurrence of gas hydrate systems and to advance the understanding of geologic controls on the formation of gas hydrate accumulations in the offshore of India. The ultimate goal of the NGHP effort...
Formation pressure and fluid flow measurements in marine gas hydrate reservoirs, NGHP-02 expedition, offshore India
Pushpendra Kumar, Timothy S. Collett, U.S. Yadav, Juli Singh
2019, Journal of Marine and Petroleum Geology (108) 609-618
Open Hole Modular Dynamic Testing (MDT) measurements were conducted in a gas hydrate-bearing sand-rich reservoir offshore India during the National Gas Hydrate Program 02 (NGHP-02) Expedition. The primary goal of this test was to obtain effective reservoir petrophysical properties in the presence of gas hydrates. The test plan included a...
India National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition-02: Operational and technical summary
Pushpendra Kumar, Timothy S. Collett, K. M. Shukla, U. S. Yadav, M. V. Lall, Krishna Vishwanath
2019, Journal of Marine and Petroleum Geology (108) 3-38
The India National Gas Hydrate Program is being steered by the government of India's Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) with participation of Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH), Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC), and the National Oil Companies and Research Institutes of India. The India National Gas...
Ensembles of ETAS models provide optimal operational earthquake forecasting during swarms: Insights from the 2015 San Ramon, California swarm
Andrea L. Llenos, Andrew J. Michael
2019, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (109) 2145-2158
Earthquake swarms, typically modeled as time-varying changes in background seismicity that are driven by external processes such as fluid flow or aseismic creep, present challenges for operational earthquake forecasting. While the time decay of aftershock sequences can be estimated with the modified Omori law, it is difficult to forecast...
Analytical framework to estimate water use associated with continuous oil and gas development
Joshua F. Valder, Ryan R. McShane, Theodore B. Barnhart, Spencer L. Wheeling, Janet M. Carter, Kathleen M. Macek-Rowland, Gregory C. Delzer, Joanna N. Thamke
2019, Scientific Investigations Report 2019-5100
An analytical framework was designed to estimate water use associated with continuous oil and gas (COG) development in support of the U.S. Geological Survey Water Availability and Use Science Program. This framework was developed to better understand the relation between the production of COG resources for energy and the amount...
Anderson Ranch wetlands hydrologic characterization in Taos County, New Mexico
Amy E. Galanter, Zachary M. Shephard, Pamela Herrera-Olivas
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1100
The Anderson Ranch property (study area), located in Taos County, north-central New Mexico, was transferred from Chevron Mining, Inc. (CMI) to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) as part of a Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration (NRDAR) court-ordered settlement. The study area supports freshwater emergent wetlands and freshwater ponds....
Integration of eDNA-based biological monitoring within the US Geological Survey’s national streamgage network
David S. Pilliod, Matthew Laramie, Dorene McCoy, Scott Maclean
2019, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (55) 1505-1518
This study explores the feasibility and utility of integrating environmental DNA (eDNA) assessments of species occurrences into the United States (U.S.) Geological Survey’s national streamgage network. We used an existing network of five gages in southwest Idaho to explore the type of information that could be gained as well as...
A fuzzy logic approach for estimating recovery factors of miscible CO2-EOR projects in the United States
C. Ozgen Karacan
2019, Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering (184)
"Recovery factor (RF) is one of the most fundamental parameters that define engineering and economical success of any operational phase in oil and gas production. The effectiveness of the operation, e.g. CO2-EOR (enhanced oil recovery with carbon dioxide injection), is usually defined by multiplying the resultant recovery factor by the...
DNA Sequencing confirms Tundra Bean Goose (Anser serrirostris serrirostris) occurrence in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley in Arkansas, USA
Douglas C. Osborne, Robert E. Wilson, Lindsay Carlson, Sarah A. Sonsthagen, Sandra L. Talbot
2019, Waterbirds (42) 333-342
—First sighting records of rare occurrences may become increasingly important for recognizing changes in distribution, changes in migratory strategies, or increases in hybridization. We focumented the first record of a Tundra Bean Goose in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley, the outlet and historic floodplain for much of North America and one...
Value of migratory bird recreation at the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico
Christopher Huber, Natalie Sexton
2019, Western Economics Forum (17) 52-62
Each fall, thousands of Rocky Mountain Sandhill Cranes and other migratory birds congregate at the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico’s Rio Grande Valley in search of wintering habitat. As such, this refuge is known as one of the premier destinations for bird viewing and photography in...
Status of groundwater-level altitudes and long-term groundwater-level changes in the Chicot, Evangeline, and Jasper aquifers, Houston-Galveston region, Texas, 2019
Christopher L. Braun, Jason K. Ramage, Sachin D. Shah
2019, Scientific Investigations Report 2019-5089
Since the early 1900s, most of the groundwater withdrawals in the Houston-Galveston region, Texas, have been from the three primary aquifers that compose the Gulf Coast aquifer system—the Chicot, Evangeline, and Jasper aquifers. Withdrawals from these aquifers are used for municipal supply, commercial and industrial use, and irrigation. This report,...
Modeling long-term effects of fuel treatments on fuel loads and fire regimes in the Great Basin
Nancy F. Glenn, Alejandro N Flores, Douglas J. Shinneman, David S. Pilliod
2019, Report
The principal motivation for this study is that sagebrush-steppe ecosystems are undergoing significant state changes, and land managers are challenged with optimizing their resources for both short- and long-term use. Yet, limited knowledge is available regarding how the sagebrush-steppe will respond to environmental changes related to precipitation and temperature regimes,...
Discovering blind geothermal systems in the Great Basin Region: An integrated geologic and geophysical approach for establishing geothermal play fairways: All phases
E. Faulds James, Nicholas H. Hinz, Mark Coolbaugh, Bridget Ayling, Jonathan M.G. Glen, Jason W. Craig, Emma McConnville, Drew L. Siler, John Queen, Jeff Witter, Christian Hardwick
2019, Report
Most geothermal resources in the Great Basin region of the western USA are blind, and thus the discovery of new commercial-grade systems requires synthesis of favorable characteristics for geothermal activity. The geothermal play fairway concept involves integration of multiple parameters indicative of geothermal activity to identify promising...
Impacts to wildlife of wind energy siting and operation in the United States
Taber Allison, James E. Diffendorfer, Erin Baerwald, Julie Beston, David Drake, Amanda Hale, Cris Hein, Manuela M. Huso, Scott Loss, Jeffrey E. Lovich, Dale Strickland, Kate Williams, Virginia Winder
2019, Issues in Ecology 1-24
Electricity from wind energy is a major contributor to the strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel use and thus reduce the negative impacts of climate change. Wind energy, like all power sources, can have adverse impacts on wildlife. After nearly 25 years of focused research, these impacts...
Characterization and load estimation of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from selected Rio Grande tributary stormwater channels in the Albuquerque urbanized area, New Mexico, 2017–18
Zachary M. Shephard, Kathleen E. Conn, Kimberly R. Beisner, Alanna D. Jornigan, Christina F. Bryant
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1106
In cooperation with the New Mexico County of Bernalillo, the U.S. Geological Survey characterized potential polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) concentration and estimated loading into the Rio Grande from watersheds that are under the county’s jurisdiction. Water and sediment samples were collected in 2017–18 from six sites within four stormwater drainage basins...
Preliminary GIS representation of deep coal areas for carbon dioxide storage in the contiguous United States and Alaska
Kevin B. Jones, Laura E. Barnhart, Peter D. Warwick, Margo D. Corum
2019, Open-File Report 2018-1178
This report and its accompanying geospatial data outline many areas of coal in the United States beneath more than 3,000 ft of overburden. Based on depth, these areas may be targets for injection and storage of supercritical carbon dioxide. Additional areas where coal exists beneath more than 1,000 ft of...
Discoveries and novel insights in ecology using structural equation modeling
Daniel C. Laughlin, James Grace
2019, Ecology and Evolution (12) 28-34
As we enter the era of data science (Lortie 2018), quantitative analysis methodologies are proliferating rapidly, leaving ecologists with the task of choosing among many alternatives. The use of structural equation modeling (SEM) by ecologists has increased in recent years, prompting us to ask users a number of questions about...
Survival and recruitment dynamics of Black-legged Kittiwakes Rissa tridactyla at an Alaskan colony
Cyndy Loftin, Aly McKnight, Erik J. Blomberg, David B. Irons, Shawn T. McKinney
2019, Marine Ornithology: Journal of Seabird Research and Conservation (47) 209-222
The majority of seabirds breed colonially and exhibit considerable site fidelity over the course of their long lifespans. Initial colony selection can therefore have substantial fitness consequences; however, factors contributing to recruitment into colonies and subsequent fidelity remain unclear. We used multi-state capture-recapture models to test several hypotheses related to...
Experimental study on the impact of thermal maturity on shale microstructures using hydrous pyrolysis
Kouqi Liu, M. Ostadhassan, Paul C. Hackley, T. Gentzis, J. Zou, Y. Yuan, H. Carvajal-Ortiz, R. Rezaee, B. Bubach
2019, Energy & Fuels (33) 9702-9719
Hydrous pyrolysis was applied to four low-maturity aliquots from the Utica, Excello, Monterey, and Niobrara Shale Formations in North America to create artificial maturation sequences, which could be used to study the impact of maturation on geochemical and microstructural properties. Modified Rock-Eval pyrolysis, reflectance, organic petrology, and Fourier transform infrared...
Map of the approximate inland extent of saltwater at the base of the Biscayne aquifer in Miami-Dade County, Florida, 2018
Scott T. Prinos
2019, Scientific Investigations Map 3438
The inland extent of saltwater at the base of the Biscayne aquifer in eastern Miami-Dade County, Florida, was mapped in 2011, and it was mapped in the Model Land Area in 2016. The saltwater interface has continued to move inland in some areas and is now near several active well...
An evaluation of methods for computing annual water-quality loads
Casey J. Lee, Robert M. Hirsch, Charles G. Crawford
2019, Scientific Investigations Report 2019-5084
The U.S. Geological Survey publishes information on the mass, or load, of water-quality constituents transported through rivers and streams sampled as part of the operation of the National Water Quality Network (NWQN). This study evaluates methods for computing annual water-quality loads, specifically with respect to procedures currently (2019) used at...
Designing multi-scale hierarchical monitoring frameworks for wildlife to support management: A sage-grouse case study
Michael S. O’Donnell, David R. Edmunds, Cameron L. Aldridge, Julie A. Heinrichs, Peter S. Coates, Brian G. Prochazka, Steve E. Hanser
2019, Ecosphere (10)
Population monitoring is integral to the conservation and management of wildlife; yet, analyses of population demographic data rarely consider processes occurring across spatial scales, potentially limiting the effectiveness of adaptive management. Therefore, we developed a method to identify hierarchical levels of organization (i.e., populations) to define multiple spatial scales, specifically...
Exploring silica stoichiometry on a large floodplain riverscape
Joanna C. Carey, Kathi Jo Jankowski, Paul Julian, Lienne Sethna, Patrick Thomas, Jason J. Rohweder
2019, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution (7)
Freshwater ecosystems are critical zones of nutrient and carbon (C) processing along the land-sea continuum. Relative to our understanding of C, nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) cycling within the freshwater systems, the controls on silicon (Si) cycling and export are less understood. Understanding Si biogeochemistry and its coupled biogeochemical processing...
