Potential duration of aftershocks of the 2020 southwestern Puerto Rico earthquake
Nicholas van der Elst, Jeanne L. Hardebeck, Andrew J. Michael
2020, Open-File Report 2020-1009
AbstractAftershocks (earthquakes clustered spatially and chronologically near the occurrence of a causative earthquake) are ongoing in southwestern Puerto Rico after a series of earthquakes, which include a magnitude 6.4 earthquake that occurred near Barrio Indios, Guayanilla, on January 7, 2020, and affected the surrounding area. This report estimates the expected...
Forecasting future beach width- A case study along the Florida Atlantic coast
Joseph W. Long, Rachel E. Henderson, David M. Thompson
2020, Open-File Report 2019-1150
Historical cross-shore positions of the shoreline and dune base were used as inputs for a Kalman filter algorithm to forecast the positions of these features in the year 2028. The beach width was also computed as the cross-shore distance between the forecasted 2028 shoreline and dune-base positions. While it does...
Seafloor change around the Mississippi barrier islands, 1920 to 2016—The influence of storm effects on inlet and island morphodynamics
James Flocks, Noreen A. Buster, Owen T. Brenner
2020, Open-File Report 2019-1140
The Mississippi Barrier Islands in the northern Gulf of Mexico experienced high rates of spatial change over recorded history. Wave-induced sediment transport induced island migration, landward retreat, and inlet evolution. These processes can be measured using repeat bathymetric surveys to analyze elevation change over time. This study analyzes digital elevation...
Kelp forest monitoring at Naval Base Ventura County, San Nicolas Island, California: Fall 2017 and Spring 2018, Fourth Annual Report
Michael C. Kenner, Joseph A. Tomoleoni
2020, Open-File Report 2019-1147
To assess and track changes to the rocky subtidal communities surrounding San Nicolas Island, the U.S. Navy entered into an agreement with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in 2014 to conduct an ecological monitoring program at several sites around the island. Four permanent sites—Nav Fac 100, West End, Dutch Harbor,...
Remnant hardwood forest mapping within the Upper Mississippi River floodplain
Jenny L. Hanson, Rich King, Erin E. Hoy
2020, Open-File Report 2019-1089
Executive SummaryThe primary objective of the project was to locate previously unknown stands of mast-producing hardwood forest trees in the Upper Mississippi River floodplain using existing information. We located and mapped 399 previously unknown hardwood forest stands within the Mississippi River floodplain area of navigation pools 9, 10, and 11....
Sustaining Environmental Capital Initiative summary report
Christopher Huber, James R. Meldrum, Rudy Schuster, Zachary H. Ancona, Kenneth J. Bagstad, Scott M. Beck, Daren M. Carlisle, Peter R. Claggett, Fabiano Franco, Heather S. Galbraith, Michelle Haefele, Kristin R Hoelting, Dianna M. Hogan, Kristina G. Hopkins, Tim Kern, Collin B. Lawrence, Stacy Lischka, John B. Loomis, Julie M. Mueller, Gregory E. Noe, Emily Pindilli, Brian Quay, Darius J. Semmens, Wilson Sinclair, Daniel E. Spooner, Brian Voigt, Barabara St. John White
2020, Open-File Report 2019-1117
Federal agencies need credible scientific information to determine the production and value of ecosystem services in an efficient and timely manner. The U.S. Geological Survey addresses this scientific information need through the Sustaining Environmental Capital Initiative project. The project has relied on U.S. Geological Survey expertise related to water, fisheries,...
Economic impacts of Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative Conservation projects in Wyoming
Christopher Huber, Matthew Flyr, Catherine Cullinane Thomas
2020, Open-File Report 2019-1135
Executive SummaryThis report estimates the economic impacts on the Wyoming economy from investments made by the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) on conservation and restoration projects. The WLCI has been working in southwestern Wyoming since 2007 to coordinate science and management decisions among government and private entities that invest in...
Focus areas for data acquisition for potential domestic sources of critical minerals—Rare earth elements
Jane M. Hammarstrom, Connie L. Dicken
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1023-A
Rare earth elements (REEs) are critical mineral commodities for the United States. In response to a need for information on potential domestic sources of REEs in mineral deposits, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) identified broad focus areas throughout the conterminous United States and Alaska as a guide for selecting new...
Characterizing 12 years of wildland fire science at the U.S. Geological Survey: Wildland Fire Science Publications, 2006–17
Paul F. Steblein, Mark P. Miller
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1002
Wildland fire characteristics, such as area burned, number of large fires, burn intensity, and fire season duration, have increased steadily over the past 30 years, resulting in substantial increases in the costs of suppressing fires and managing damages from wildland fire events (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2017)....
New method for correcting bottomhole temperatures acquired from wireline logging measurements and calibrated for the onshore Gulf of Mexico Basin, U.S.A.
Lauri A. Burke, Ofori N. Pearson, Scott A. Kinney
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1143
Bottomhole temperature (BHT) measurements offer a useful way to characterize the subsurface thermal regime as long as they are corrected to represent in situ reservoir temperatures. BHT correction methods calibrated for the domestic onshore Gulf of Mexico basin were established in this study. These corrections are empirically derived and...
Preliminary bedrock geologic map of the Lahore 7.5-minute quadrangle, Orange, Spotsylvania, and Louisa Counties, Virginia
William C. Burton
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1110
IntroductionBedrock geologic mapping of the Lahore, Va., 7.5-minute quadrangle was completed as part of a broader project, undertaken jointly between the U.S. Geological Survey, the Virginia Division of Geology and Mineral Resources, and other Federal and State agencies to better understand the causative mechanisms of the magnitude-5.8 (M5.8) earthquake that...
Temperature model in support of the U.S. Geological Survey National Crustal Model for seismic hazard Ssudies
Oliver S. Boyd
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1121
The U.S. Geological Survey National Crustal Model (NCM) is being developed to assist with earthquake hazard and risk assessment by supporting estimates of ground shaking in response to an earthquake. The period-dependent intensity and duration of shaking depend upon the three-dimensional seismic velocity, seismic attenuation, and density distribution of a...
Population and habitat analyses for greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) in the bi-state distinct population segment—2018 update
Peter S. Coates, Mark A. Ricca, Brian G. Prochazka, Shawn T. O’Neil, John P. Severson, Steven R. Mathews, Shawn Espinosa, Scott Gardner, Sherri Lisius, David J. Delehanty
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1149
Executive SummaryThe Bi-State Distinct Population Segment (Bi-State DPS) of greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus, hereinafter “sage-grouse”) represents a genetically distinct and geographically isolated population that straddles the border between Nevada and California. The primary threat to these sage-grouse populations is the expansion of single-leaf pinyon (Pinus monophylla) and Utah juniper (Juniperus...
Analysis of aquifer framework and hydraulic properties of Lovelock Valley, Lovelock, Nevada
Cara A. Nadler
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1133
Multiple aquifer tests were conducted in Lovelock, Nevada, to determine hydraulic conductivity and storage properties to be used with the numerical groundwater flow model of the lower Humboldt River Basin while accounting for the influence of surface features with a modeling component. The numerical model will ultimately provide the Nevada...
Preliminary geologic map of the Greater Antilles and the Virgin Islands
Frederic H. Wilson, Greta Orris, Floyd Gray
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1036
IntroductionThis geologic map of the Greater Antilles and the Virgin Islands is a compilation of information from the literature, integrated to provide a seamless geologic map of the region. The geology shown on sheet 1 covers Cuba, the island of Hispaniola, which includes Haiti and the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, the...
Seismic evaluation of shallow-depth structure, faulting, and groundwater variations across the Dos Palmas Preserve, Riverside County, California
Rufus D. Catchings, Mark R. Goldman, Joanne H. Chan, Robert R. Sickler, Michael J. Rymer, Coyn J. Criley
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1130
IntroductionDos Palmas Preserve is a Colorado Desert oasis and wetland in Riverside County, California, located near the base of the Orocopia Mountains and northeast of the Salton Sea. The original source of water for the oasis was artesian springs that developed at the base of the Orocopia Mountains, but more...
Louisiana Coastal Zone sediment characterization; comparison of sediment grain sizes for samples collected in 2008 and 2015–2016 from the western Chenier plain to the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana—Louisiana Barrier Island Comprehensive Monitoring (BICM) Program
Stephen T. Bosse, James G. Flocks, Julie Bernier, Ioannis Y. Georgiou, Mark A. Kulp, Michael Brown
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1132
Repeated sampling and grain-size analysis of surficial sediments along the sandy shorelines of Louisiana is necessary to characterize coastal-zone sediment properties and evaluate sediment transport patterns within the nearshore environments. In 2008, and again in 2015 and 2016, sediment grab samples were collected along the shorelines of the western Chenier...
Assessment of existing groundwater quality data in the Green-Duwamish watershed, Washington
Craig A. Senter, Kathleen E. Conn, Robert W. Black, Wendy B. Welch, Elisabeth T. Fasser
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1131
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) provided technical support to the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) in their assessment of the role groundwater plays in contributing pollutant loading to the Green-Duwamish River near Seattle, Washington. Ecology is developing watershed hydrology models of the Green-Duwamish watershed, and need to assign...
Cross section of the North Carolina coastal plain from Enfield through Cape Hatteras
Robert E. Weems, Jean Self-Trail, Lucy E. Edwards
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1145
IntroductionThe Atlantic Coastal Plain, the southeasternmost physiographic province in the United States, is underlain by strata that regionally dip gently eastward and gradually thicken toward the Atlantic Ocean basin. These strata, ranging in age from Middle Jurassic to Holocene, accumulated along the eastern margin of North America after the break-up...
Community for Data Integration 2018 annual report
Leslie Hsu, Leah Colasuonno
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1123
The Community for Data Integration (CDI) is a community of practice whose purpose is to build the U.S. Geological Survey knowledge base in data integration. This annual report describes the various presentations, activities, and outcomes of the CDI monthly forums, working groups, trainings, and other CDI-sponsored events in fiscal year...
Trends in mammalian predator control trapping events intended to protect ground-nesting, endangered birds at Haleakalā National Park, Hawaiʻi: 2000–14
Emily C. Kelsey, Josh Adams, Max F. Czapanskiy, Jonathan J. Felis, Julie L. Yee, Raina L. Kaholoaa, Cathleen Natividad Bailey
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1122
Predation and habitat degradation by non-native species are principal terrestrial threats to the federally endangered Hawaiian Petrel (ʻuaʻu, Pterodroma sandwichensis) and Hawaiian Goose (nēnē, Branta sandvicensis) within Haleakalā National Park (HALE), Maui, Hawaiʻi. Since 1981, HALE has maintained a network of live traps to control invasive mammalian predators and protect...
Preliminary assessment of shallow groundwater chemistry near Goodell Creek, North Cascades National Park, Washington
Rich W. Sheibley, James R. Foreman
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1144
Goodell Creek is located within North Cascades National Park and is high-quality habitat for Chinook salmon, which are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The creation of a levee near the mouth of the creek where it enters the Skagit River has cut off the historical flood plain...
Quantifying erosion rates by using terrestrial laser scanning at Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park, Nevada County, California, 2014–17
James F. Howle, Charles N. Alpers, Alfred J. Ward, Sandra Bond, Jennifer A. Curtis
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1124
The abandoned hydraulic mine pit at Malakoff Diggins near Grass Valley, California, can produce large volumes of eroded sediment transportable by storm runoff. Sediment-laden water discharged from the pit is a major source of heavy metals to Humbug Creek and the South Yuba River. To develop a comprehensive sediment budget...
U.S. Geological Survey — Department of the Interior Region 11, Alaska—2019 annual science report
Dee Williams, Elizabeth Powers, editor(s)
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1141
In keeping with our national mission, the USGS in Alaska provides timely and objective scientific information to help the Nation address issues and solve problems in five major topical areas (listed alphabetically):Energy and Minerals;Geospatial Mapping;Natural Hazards;Water Quality, Streamflow, and Ice Dynamics; andWildlife, Fish, and Habitat. The USGS in Alaska engages about...
National assessment of shoreline change — Historical shoreline change along the north coast of Alaska, Icy Cape to Cape Prince of Wales
Ann E. Gibbs, Alexander G. Snyder, Bruce M. Richmond
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1146
Beach erosion is a persistent problem along most open-ocean shores of the United States. Along the Arctic coast of Alaska, coastal erosion is widespread and threatens communities, defense and energy-related infrastructure, and coastal habitat. As coastal populations continue to expand and infrastructure and habitat are increasingly threatened by erosion, there...
