Performance analysis of oil recovery and CO2 retention in a greenfield residual oil zone: CO2-EOR in Tall Cotton Field (Permian Basin, West Texas, USA)
C. Ozgen Karacan
2025, Carbon Capture Science and Technology (17)
Residual oil zones (ROZs) can offer significant oil resources via enhanced oil recovery (EOR) as well as subsurface carbon dioxide (CO2) retention during injection. If injected CO2 is anthropogenic, the ROZs can offer a substantial geologic storage potential. The ROZs below the oil/water contact (OWC) of main pay zones (MPZ) in...
Sensitive environmental DNA methods for low-risk surveillance of at-risk bumble bees
Rodney T. Richardson, Grace Avalos, Cameron J. Garland, Regina Trott, Olivia Hager, Mark J. Hepner, Clayton D. Raines, Karen Goodell
2025, Molecular Ecology Resources (26)
Terrestrial environmental DNA (eDNA) techniques have been proposed as a means of sensitive, non-lethal pollinator monitoring. To date, however, no studies have provided evidence that eDNA methods can achieve detection sensitivity on par with traditional pollinator surveys. Using a large-scale dataset of eDNA and corresponding net surveys, we show that...
Analysis of trends in terrestrial vegetation at Mediterranean Coast Network Parks: Channel Islands National Park
Leigh Ann Starcevich, Christopher Murray, Lena F.S. Lee, Cameron B. Williams, Kathryn McEachern
2025, Science Report NPS/SR-2025/358
The five islands comprising Channel Islands National Park (CHIS) experience natural gradients in temperature and moisture driven by ocean currents. Additionally, the islands were used as ranchlands and military land before becoming a national park, resulting in widespread erosion and vegetation change. As a result, CHIS spans gradients in climate...
Zircon as a pathfinder to REE mineralization
Ian William Hillenbrand
2025, Geochemical Perspectives Letters (37) 18-23
Carbonatites and alkaline silicate rocks are major primary sources of the rare earth elements (REE) and other critical metals, such as Nb. Despite the economic significance of these rocks, their formation and the processes of REE enrichment are poorly understood. Here, statistical analysis of a global dataset demonstrates that zircon...
Red spruce forest stand structure and Virginia northern flying squirrel habitat suitability
Tanner R. Humbert, Abigail W. McKellips, David R. Carter, P. Corey Green, Jesse L. De La Cruz, Corinne A. Diggins, W. Mark Ford
2025, International Journal of Forestry Research (2025)
The Virginia northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus fuscus; VNFS) is a rare, Pleistocene-relict, disjunct subspecies of the northern flying squirrel. The squirrel occurs only in high-elevation red spruce (Picea rubens) forests of the central Appalachian Mountains of Virginia and West Virginia—a forest type that was substantially reduced by exploitative logging...
Land application of biosolid, livestock, and drilling wastes to US farmland: A potential pathway for the redistribution of contaminants in the environment
Jason R. Masoner, Dana W. Kolpin, Isabelle M. Cozzarelli, Denise M. Akob, Christopher H. Conaway, Carrie E. Givens, Michelle L. Hladik, Laura E. Hubbard, Rachael F. Lane, R. Blaine McCleskey, Todd M. Preston, Clayton D. Raines, Matthew S. Varonka, Michaelah C. Wilson
2025, Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts (27) 3372-3402
In the United States (U.S.), waste byproducts generated from the treatment of municipal waste (biosolids), production of livestock (livestock waste), and drilling of oil and gas wells (drilling waste) are commonly applied to agricultural lands. Although this can be a cost-effective reuse/disposal practice, there is limited research on the potential...
Rare earth element-mineralized carbonatite in the Bear Lodge Alkaline Complex, USA—Ore genesis implications from fluid inclusion characterization
Allen K. Andersen, Danielle A. Olinger, Mitchell M. Bennett
2025, American Journal of Science (325)
Rare earth element (REE) resources of the Bear Lodge Alkaline Complex, Wyoming, are hosted in variably leached carbonatite spatially related to diatreme breccia pipes. We investigated the genesis of REE and lesser-known gold resources through fluid inclusion analysis of carbonatite, fluorite breccia, and smoky quartz vein samples. Physicochemical characteristics of...
Museum records provide unique information about the distribution of the Yellow Lampmussel Lampsilis cariosa (Unionidae)
Jillian Fedarick, Christina Amy Murphy, Sydne Record, Allison H. Roy
2025, Freshwater Science (44) 434-442
Natural history museum records may provide unique information on the distribution of species that can supplement survey data collected by resource managers. However, there can be challenges to using museum data for analyses, such as spurious geographic information, misidentifications, and incorrect labeling. Museum records have been centralized...
Genetic and environmental factors associated with survival of a rare songbird in a fragmented urban landscape
Amy G. Vandergast, Anna Mitelberg, Barbara E. Kus, Kristine L. Preston, Suellen Lynn, Alexandra Houston, Robert C. Klinger
2025, Conservation Science and Practice (7)
The coastal Cactus Wren (Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus) persists in small and fragmented populations throughout southern California that are subject to genetic drift and inbreeding. We combined individual banding and resighting data and genotyped individuals at 22 microsatellite loci to assess whether heterozygosity was associated with survival across three...
Pre-Acadian tectonics of the eastern Orange-Milford Belt, south-central Connecticut
Ryan T. Deasy, Robert P. Wintsch, Bryan Wathen, Ryan J. McAleer, Romain Meyer, Michael J. Kunk
2025, Conference Paper
This excursion presents a reinterpretation of mapping and new analytical data from the eastern Orange-Milford belt (OMB) in south-central Connecticut. The OMB is a fault-bound terrane of argillites and mafic rocks of anomalously low metamorphic grade—and of poorly constrained ages and tectonic affinity—wedged between kyanite/sillimanite-grade peri- Laurentian rocks to the...
A systematic literature review of forecasting and predictive models of harmful algal blooms in flowing waters
Jennifer C. Murphy, Rebecca M. Gorney, Lisa Lucas, Jacob Aaron Zwart, Jennifer L. Graham
2025, Preprint
Occurrences of harmful algal blooms (HABs) in rivers challenge the belief that rivers are not susceptible to HABs because of their short residence times and fluctuating hydrology. Here we present a systematic literature review of predictive and forecasting models for HABs in flowing waters, including rivers, flowing in-stream reservoirs (e.g.,...
Unique thermal mixing patterns in Lake Ontario revealed by novel year-round observations of thermal stratification
Mathew Wells, Tim B. Johnson, Rylie Robinson, Jon Midwood, Yulu Shi, Sarah M. Larocque, Adam Eddie, Brian O’Malley, Kyle Morton, Dimitri Gorsky, Bruce Tufts
2025, Limnology and Oceanography (70) 3401-3416
Year-round records of thermal stratification in the Great Lakes are rare, and there are few observations of thermal stratification during winter. In this paper, we analyze temperature data from 13 temperature logger chains and from over 130 benthic acoustic receivers that were deployed across Lake Ontario for 2 yr. The...
Quantifying landscape-level biodiversity change in an island ecosystem: A 50-year assessment of shifts in the Hawaiian avian community
Trevor Bak, Lucas Berio Fortini, Noah Hunt, Paul C. Banko, Lena Schnell, Richard J. Camp
2025, Ecography (2025)
Hawaii has experienced profound declines in native avifauna alongside the introduction of numerous bird species. While site-specific population studies are common, landscape-level analyses of avian population dynamics are rare, particularly in island ecosystems. To address this gap, we used a density surface model to create a spatio-temporal projection of population...
Pit tag application in native freshwater mussels: Case studies across small, medium, and large rivers
Jeremy S. Tiemann, Matthew J. Ashton, Sarah A. Douglass, Alison P. Stodola, Rachel M. Vinsel, Teresa J. Newton
2025, Freshwater Mollusk Biology and Conservation (28) 71-82
Since their first use in the mid-1980s, external passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags have facilitated innovative investigations into multiple biological traits of animals. For native freshwater mussels, PIT tags are frequently used in capture-mark-recapture applications because they allow repeated, noninvasive sampling, are easy to apply, have high retention rates, and...
Breeder turnover creates allelic variation in groups of gray wolves
David Edward Ausband
2025, Heredity (134) 577-583
Genetic diversity is an important driver affecting the health of wildlife populations. In cooperatively breeding species, human impacts and breeder turnover can affect genetic diversity in groups. We generally do not have strong inferences about how the genetic composition of a group changes through time as individuals are lost (e.g.,...
Using satellite imagery and soil data to understand occurrences and migration of soil conditions harmful to archaeological sites on Jamestown Island, Virginia
Samuel H. Caldwell
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5074
Many know Jamestown Island, Virginia, hereafter referred to as “the Island,” located near the mouth of the James River into the Chesapeake Bay, as the home of the first permanent English settlement in North America. However, the Island is home to 15,000 years’ worth of cultural artifacts and archaeological sites....
Fingerprinting magmatic REE deposit sources with zircon petrochronology
Ian William Hillenbrand, Erin Kay Benson, Kathryn E. Watts, Jay M. Thompson
2025, Conference Paper
Carbonatites and associated alkaline silicate rocks are of considerable economic interest due to their enrichments in rare earth elements. The petrogenesis and source(s) of these complexes, however, are poorly understood. Models propose either mantle plume-derived carbon-rich melts or a mantle source enriched by subduction-related metasomatism. We use zircon trace elements...
Stable isotope composition and geochemistry of calcite and dolomite in the Mountain Pass carbonatite: A lens into petrogenesis
Erin Kay Benson, Kathryn E. Watts, Jay M. Thompson, Heather A. Lowers
2025, Conference Paper
Carbonatites host most of the global rare earth element (REE) deposits. The petrogenesis of these rocks, including magmatic and post-magmatic processes, are poorly understood but critical in forming and upgrading these deposits. The Mountain Pass carbonatite, which hosts the only active REE mine in North America, is lithologically variable but...
Calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy and floral response to environmental changes recorded in the Pliocene Yorktown Formation, southeastern Virginia, USA
Masayuki Utsunomiya, Harry J. Dowsett
2025, Stratigraphy (22) 181-193
The Pliocene Yorktown Formation, deposited on the U.S. Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain, has played an important role in advancing our knowledge of Pliocene paleoclimate. To refine the age and paleoenvironment of the Yorktown Formation, we analyzed the calcareous nannofossil assemblage and compared it with variations in lithology and calculated sea surface...
Alteration mapping in granitic gneiss using handheld geophysical and geochemical instruments: Implications for iron oxide-apatite and rare earth elements exploration
Kaitlyn A. Suarez, Michael L. Williams, Gregory J. Walsh, Daniel E. Harlov, Michael J. Jercinovic, Daniel J. Tjapkes, Ian William Hillenbrand
2025, Ore and Energy Resource Geology (19)
The Adirondack Mountains of New York, U.S.A. contain iron oxide-apatite (IOA) mineral deposits with variable concentrations of rare earth elements (REE). The IOA mineral deposits are typically hosted in the Lyon Mountain Granite Gneiss and are spatially correlated with extensive Na metasomatism (albitization) of the surrounding country rocks,...
The role of alkali bicarbonate-sulfate brines in the genesis of carbonatite REE resources at the Bear Lodge Alkaline Complex, Wyoming
Allen K. Andersen, Danielle A. Olinger, Mitchell M. Bennett
2025, Conference Paper
Rare-earth element (REE) resources in the Bear Lodge Alkaline Complex, Wyoming, are hosted in a variably leached carbonatite dike swarm spatially related to bodies of diatreme breccia. This study examines fluid inclusions in carbonatite dikes, peripheral fluorite breccias, and smoky quartz veins to reconstruct the physiochemical conditions of REE mineralization....
Formation of the Mount Weld rare earth deposit, Western Australia: Geochronology constraints
Philip L. Verplanck, Cameron Mark Mercer, Jay M. Thompson, Martin Danišík, Ganesh Bhat, Heather A. Lowers
2025, Conference Paper
Constraining the age of protracted chemical weathering in stable cratonic areas that may form thick regoliths and the potential enrichment of various elements is challenging. Economic deposits of aluminium, iron, copper, nickel, cobalt, niobium, and rare earth elements (REEs) form in this manner. Determining the age of formation can provide...
Speleothem evidence for Late Miocene extreme Arctic amplification – An analogue for near-future anthropogenic climate change?
Stuart Umbo, Franziska Lechleitner, Thomas Opel, Sevasti Modestou, Tobias Braun, Anton Vaks, Gideon Henderson, Pete Scott, Alexander Osintzev, Alexander Kononov, Irina Adrian, Yuri Dublyansky, Alena Maria Giesche, Sebastian F.M. Breitenbach
2025, Climate of the Past (21) 1533-1551
The Miocene provides an excellent climatic analogue for near-future runaway anthropogenic warming, with atmospheric CO2 concentrations and global average temperatures similar to those projected for the coming century under extreme-emissions scenarios. However, the magnitude of Miocene Arctic warming remains unclear due to the scarcity of reliable proxy data. Here we use...
Placing environmental DNA monitoring for new detections into perspective: Fishes in the Milwaukee River, Wisconsin
Richard A. Erickson, Patrick W. DeHaan, Nicholas K. Frohnauer, Cari-Ann Hayer, Keta L. Oettinger, Tariq Tajjioui, Kyle M. Von Ruden, Hailey M. Willner, Stephen Frank Spear
2025, Journal of Wildlife Management (89)
Invasive species management frameworks, such as the early detection of and rapid response to invasive species, use monitoring programs to detect new species occurrences. Resource managers use environmental DNA (eDNA) as one tool for these monitoring programs. An eDNA detection in a new location may lack perspective for resource managers...
Melt generation sources and conditions in the wake of a migrating slab window: Geochemistry and petrology of the million-year history of primitive volcanism at Clear Lake volcanic field, California
Dawnika L. Blatter, Seth D. Burgess
2025, Journal of Petrology (66)
Clear Lake volcanic field (CLVF) is the northernmost and youngest (~2.2 Ma to 8 ka) of the volcanic centers distributed along the San Andreas transform fault in western California. The initial phase of CLVF volcanism (interval one) occurred between ~2.2 and 1.3 Ma and extends ~35 km southeast of Clear Lake, forming a semi-continuous...
