Geologic map of the Paeroa Fault block and surrounding area, Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand
Drew T. Downs, Graham S. Leonard, Colin J. N. Wilson, Julie V Rowland
2020, Open-File Report 2020-1021
The Taupo Volcanic Zone (TVZ), New Zealand, is the most productive area of explosive silicic volcanism in the world. Faulted early and middle Pleistocene volcanic products are generally concealed beneath voluminous, generally unfaulted, younger volcanic products. An exception is the southeast margin of the TVZ where the two parallel, northeast-trending...
Map depicting susceptibility to landslides triggered by intense rainfall, Puerto Rico
K. Stephen Hughes, William H. Schulz
2020, Open-File Report 2020-1022
Landslides in Puerto Rico range from nuisances to deadly events. Centuries of agricultural and urban modification of the landscape have perturbed many already unstable hillsides on the tropical island. One of the main triggers of mass wasting on the island is the high-intensity rainfall that is associated with tropical atmospheric...
Predicting barrier island habitats and oyster and seagrass habitat suitability for various restoration measures and future conditions for Dauphin Island, Alabama
Nicholas M. Enwright, Hongqing Wang, P. Soupy Dalyander, Elizabeth Godsey, editor(s)
2020, Open-File Report 2020-1003
Barrier islands, such as Dauphin Island, Alabama, provide numerous invaluable ecosystem services including storm damage reduction and erosion control to the mainland, habitat for fish and wildlife, carbon sequestration in marshes, water catchment and purification, recreation, and tourism. These islands are dynamic environments that are gradually shaped by currents, waves,...
Development of a modeling framework for predicting decadal barrier island evolution
Rangley C. Mickey, Joseph W. Long, P. Soupy Dalyander, Robert L. Jenkins III, David M. Thompson, Davina L. Passeri, Nathaniel G. Plant
2020, Open-File Report 2019-1139
Predicting the decadal evolution of barrier island systems is important for coastal managers who propose restoration or preservation alternatives aimed at increasing the resiliency of the island and its associated habitats or communities. Existing numerical models for simulating morphologic changes typically include either long-term (for example, longshore transport under quiescent...
Application of decadal modeling approach to forecast barrier island evolution, Dauphin Island, Alabama
Rangley C. Mickey, Elizabeth Godsey, P. Soupy Dalyander, Victor Gonzalez, Robert L. Jenkins III, Joseph W. Long, David M. Thompson, Nathaniel G. Plant
2020, Open-File Report 2020-1001
Forecasting barrier island evolution provides coastal managers and stakeholders the ability to assess the resiliency of these important coastal environments that are home to both established communities and existing natural habitats. This study uses an established coupled model framework to assess how Dauphin Island, Alabama, responds to various storm and...
Development of a process-based littoral sediment transport model for Dauphin Island, Alabama
Robert L. Jenkins III, Joseph W. Long, P. Soupy Dalyander, David M. Thompson, Rangley C. Mickey
2020, Open-File Report 2020-1011
Dauphin Island, Alabama, located in the Northern Gulf of Mexico just outside of Mobile Bay, is Alabama’s only barrier island and provides an array of historical, natural, and economic resources. The dynamic island shoreline of Dauphin Island evolved across time scales while constantly acted upon by waves and currents during...
Have humans influenced volcanic activity on the lower East Rift Zone of Kīlauea Volcano? A publication review
James P. Kauahikaua, Frank A. Trusdell
2020, Open-File Report 2020-1017
Since the 2018 eruption of Kīlauea Volcano, the topic of whether commercial developments not only caused the eruption to occur in the lower East Rift Zone (LERZ), but also caused its high eruption rate has been a subject of public discussion. We review Kīlauea Volcano publications from the past several...
Preliminary analyses of volcanic hazards at Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai‘i, 2017–2018
Christina A. Neal, Kyle R. Anderson
2020, Open-File Report 2020-1002
From 2017 to 2018, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) responded to ongoing and changing eruptions at Kīlauea Volcano as part of its mission to monitor volcanic processes, issue warnings of dangerous activity, and assess volcanic hazards. To formalize short-term hazards assessments—and, in some cases, issue...
Multiple-well monitoring site adjacent to the Lost Hills oil field, Kern County, California
Rhett R. Everett, Adam Kjos, Anthony A. Brown, Janice M. Gillespie, Peter B. McMahon
2020, Open-File Report 2019-1114
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the California State Water Resources Control Board, is evaluating several questions about oil and gas development and groundwater resources in California, including (1) the location of groundwater resources; (2) the proximity of oil and gas operations and groundwater and the geologic materials...
Spectral analysis to quantify the response of groundwater levels to precipitation — Northwestern United States
Andrew J. Long, Christopher P. Konrad
2020, Open-File Report 2020-1007
Persistent atmospheric patterns that lead to wet and dry seasons and droughts over periods of months to decades and longer-term climate change over periods of decades to millennia affect groundwater resources. Changes in groundwater storage and the resulting groundwater discharge from most aquifers is relatively slow and steady compared to...
The surface trace tool — Modeling complex planar interactions using ArcGIS
Drew B. Adams, Heather L. Parks
2020, Open-File Report 2019-1136
The surface trace tool comprises a Python script written for ArcGIS that will determine the line of intersection between a planar feature and a surface. Specifically, this tool was designed for geologic applications where geologic planar-feature orientations are reported as strike and dip, and the intersecting surface is the ground....
Groundwater withdrawals and regional flow paths at and near Willow Grove and Warminster, Pennsylvania—Data compilation and preliminary simulations for conditions in 1999, 2010, 2013, 2016, and 2017
Daniel J. Goode, Lisa A. Senior
2020, Open-File Report 2019-1137
In 2014, groundwater samples from residential and public supply wells in the vicinity of two former U.S. Navy bases at Willow Grove and Warminster, and an active Air National Guard Station at Horsham, Bucks and Montgomery Counties, Pennsylvania, were found to have concentrations of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate...
Evaluation of survey methods for colonial waterbirds at Chase Lake National Wildlife Refuge, North Dakota
Lawrence D. Igl, Alisa J. Bartos, Robert O. Woodward, Paulette Scherr, Marsha A. Sovada
2020, Open-File Report 2020-1008
Estimating the number of breeding pairs in a mixed-species waterbird colony is difficult because colonial waterbirds are vulnerable to human intrusion and their colonies are often in remote areas with limited access. We investigated methods to estimate the number of nests of waterbirds at a large, mixed-species colony at Chase...
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...
