Seafloor observations eliminate a landslide as the source of the 1918 Puerto Rico Tsunami
Uri S. ten Brink, Jason Chaytor, Claudia Flores, Yong Wei, Simon Detmer, Lilian Lucas, Brian D. Andrews, Aggeliki Georgiopoulou
2023, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (113) 268-280
The 11 October 1918 devastating tsunami in northwest Puerto Rico had been used as an example for earthquake‐induced landslide tsunami hazard. Three pieces of evidence pointed to a landslide as the origin of the tsunami: the discovery of a large submarine landslide scar from bathymetry data collected by shipboard high‐resolution...
Buzzards Bay salt marshes: Vulnerability and adaptation potential
R. W Jakuba, A. Besterman, L. Hoffart, J. E. Costa, Neil K. Ganju, L. Deegan
2023, Report
Salt marshes with lush grass meadows teeming with shorebirds are iconic features of the Buzzards Bay coast and provide opportunities for recreation, aesthetic enjoyment, as well as important environmental benefits. These productive coastal wetlands are important because they protect properties from storm surges, remove nutrients from the water and carbon...
A recently discovered trachyte-hosted rare earth element-niobium-zirconium occurrence in northern Maine, USA
Chunzeng Wang, John F. Slack, Anjana K. Shah, Martin G. Yates, David R. Lentz, Amber T.H. Whittaker, Robert G. Marvinney
2023, Economic Geology (118) 1-13
Reported here are geological, geophysical, mineralogical, and geochemical data on a previously unknown trachyte-hosted rare earth element (REE)-Nb-Zr occurrence at Pennington Mountain in northern Maine, USA. This occurrence was newly discovered by a regional multiparameter, airborne radiometric survey that revealed anomalously high equivalent Th (eTh) and U (eU), confirmed by...
Using cyanobacteria and other phytoplankton to assess trophic conditions: A qPCR-based, multi-year study in twelve large rivers across the United States
Chiqian Zhang, Kyle D. McIntosh, Nathan Sienkiewicz, Erin A. Stelzer, Jennifer L. Graham, Jingrang Lu
2023, Water Research (235)
Phytoplankton is the essential primary producer in fresh surface water ecosystems. However, excessive phytoplankton growth due to eutrophication significantly threatens ecologic, economic, and public health. Therefore, phytoplankton identification and quantification are essential to understanding the productivity and health of freshwater ecosystems as well as the impacts of phytoplankton overgrowth (such...
Fecal DNA metabarcoding shows credible short-term prey detections and explains variation in the gut microbiome of two polar bear subpopulations
Megan Franz, L Whyte, Todd C. Atwood, Damian M. Menning, Sarah A. Sonsthagen, Sandra Talbot, Kristin L. Laidre, Emmanuel Gonzalez, Melissa McKinney
2023, Marine Ecology Progress Series (MEPS) (704) 131-147
This study developed and evaluated DNA metabarcoding to identify the presence of pinniped and cetacean prey DNA in fecal samples of East Greenland (EG) and Southern Beaufort Sea (SB) polar bears Ursus maritimus sampled in the spring of 2015-2019. Prey DNA was detected in half (49/92) of all samples, and when...
A novel non-destructive workflow for examining germanium and co-substituents in ZnS
Sarah M. Hayes, Ryan J. McAleer, Nadine M. Piatak, Sarah Jane White, Robert R. Seal, II
2023, Frontiers in Earth Science (11)
A suite of complementary techniques was used to examine germanium (Ge), a byproduct critical element, and co-substituent trace elements in ZnS and mine wastes from four mineral districts where germanium is, or has been, produced within the United States. This contribution establishes a comprehensive workflow for characterizing Ge...
Effectiveness of a decade of treatments to reduce invasive buffelgrass (Pennisetum ciliare)
Yue M. Li, Seth M. Munson, Ya-Ching Lin, Perry Grissom
2023, Invasive Plant Science and Management (16) 27-37
The invasion of nonnative grasses threatens biodiversity and ecosystem function globally through competition with native plant species and increases to wildfire frequency and intensity. Management actions to reduce buffelgrass [Pennisetum ciliare (L.) Link], an invasive warm-season perennial bunchgrass, are widely implemented, with chemical and mechanical treatments extending...
Habitat selection of a migratory freshwater fish in response to seasonal hypoxia as revealed by acoustic telemetry
Richard Kraus, H. Andrew Cook, Matthew D. Faust, Joseph Schmitt, Mark D. Rowe, Christopher S. Vandergoot
2023, Journal of Great Lakes Research (49) 1004-1014
Adaptive efforts to achieve water quality objectives by modifying nutrient loading can have attendant impacts on fish habitats and fisheries. Thus, coordinating fishery and water quality management depends on knowledge of fish behavioral responses to habitat change. This study combined acoustic telemetry of fish with water quality modeling to understand...
Using Global Fiducials Library high-resolution imagery, commercial satellite imagery, Landsat and Sentinel satellite imagery, and aerial photography to monitor change at East Timbalier Island, Louisiana, 1953–2021
Gary B. Fisher, E. Terrence Slonecker, Shawn J. Dilles, Bruce F. Molnia, Kim M. Angeli
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2022-5107
This report documents morphological changes between 1953 and 2021 at East Timbalier Island, Louisiana, a Gulf of Mexico barrier island. East Timbalier Island, which was located west of the Mississippi River Delta at the front of Timbalier Bay, was one of the most rapidly changing barrier islands on Earth. Since...
Genetic diversity and connectivity of moose (Alces americanus americanus) in eastern North America
Elias Rosenblatt, Katherina Gieder, Therese M. Donovan, James Murdoch, Timothy P.L. Smith, Stephanie McKay, Michael P. Heaton, Theodore S. Kalbfleisch, Brenda M. Murdoch, Suraj Bhattarai, Emory Pacht, Emma Verbist, Veronica Basnayake, Stephanie McKay
2023, Conservation Genetics (24) 235-248
Genetic diversity is critical to a population’s ability to overcome gradual environment change. Large-bodied wildlife existing in regions with relatively high human population density are vulnerable to isolation-induced genetic drift, population bottlenecks, and loss of genetic diversity. Moose (Alces americanus americanus) in eastern North America have a complex history of...
Recent history of glacial lake outburst floods, analysis of channel changes, and development of a two-dimensional flow and sediment transport model of the Snow River near Seward, Alaska
Robin A. Beebee
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2022-5099
Snow Lake, a glacially dammed lake on the Snow Glacier near Seward, Alaska, drains rapidly every 14 months–3 years, causing flooding along the Snow River. Highway, railroad, and utility infrastructure on the lower Snow River floodplain is vulnerable to flood damage. Historical hydrology, geomorphology, and two-dimensional hydraulic and sediment transport...
Research needs identified for potential effects of energy development activities on environmental resources of the Williston Basin, United States
Gregory C. Delzer, Max Post van der Burg
2023, Fact Sheet 2022-3088
Unconventional oil and gas development that uses horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing is rapidly changing the landscape and exponentially increasing oil production within the Williston Basin, especially in North Dakota and eastern Montana. The activities associated with unconventional oil and gas development are complex and wide reaching and include, in...
Contaminant exposure and transport from three potential reuse waters within a single watershed
Jason R. Masoner, Dana W. Kolpin, Isabelle M. Cozzarelli, Paul M. Bradley, Brian Arnall, Kenneth J. Forshay, James L. Gray, Justin F. Groves, Michelle L. Hladik, Laura E. Hubbard, Luke R. Iwanowicz, Jeanne B. Jaeschke, Rachael F. Lane, R. Blaine McCleskey, Bridgette F. Polite, David A. Roth, Michael Pettijohn, Michaelah C. Wilson
2023, Environmental Science & Technology (57) 1353-1365
Global demand for safe and sustainable water supplies necessitates a better understanding of contaminant exposures in potential reuse waters. In this study, we compared exposures and load contributions to surface water from the discharge of three reuse waters (wastewater effluent, urban stormwater,...
Quality of groundwater used for domestic supply in the Modesto, Turlock, and Merced Subbasins of the San Joaquin Valley, California
Zeno F. Levy, Mariia Balkan, Jennifer L. Shelton
2023, Open-File Report 2022-1116
Summary More than 2 million Californians rely on groundwater from privately owned domestic wells for drinking-water supply. This report summarizes a water-quality survey of domestic and small-system drinking-water supply wells in the Modesto, Turlock, and Merced subbasins of the San Joaquin Valley where more than 78,000 residents are...
Tectonics, geochronology, and petrology of the Walker Top Granite, Appalachian Inner Piedmont, North Carolina (USA): Implications for Acadian and Neoacadian orogenesis
Arthur J. Merschat, Robert D. Hatcher, Scott D. Giorgis, Heather E. Byars, Russell Mapes, Crystal G. Wilson, Matthew P. Gatewood
2023, Geosphere (19) 19-46
The Walker Top Granite (here formally named) is a peraluminous megacrystic granite that occurs in the Cat Square terrane, Inner Piedmont, part of the southern Appalachian Acadian-Neoacadian deformational and metamorphic core. The granite occurs as disconnected concordant to semi-concordant plutons in migmatitic, sillimanite...
Magmatic record of changing Cordilleran plate-boundary conditions—Insights from Lu-Hf isotopes in the Mojave Desert
Keith A. Howard, S.E. Shaw, Charlotte M. Allen
2023, Geosphere (19) 1-18
Belts of Cordilleran arc plutons in the eastern part of the Mojave crustal province, inboard from the southwestern North American plate boundary, record major magmatic pulses at ca. 180–160 and 75 Ma and smaller pulses at ca. 100 and 20 Ma. This cyclic magmatism likely reflects evolving plate-margin processes. Zircon...
Near real-time detection of winter cover crop termination using harmonized Landsat and Sentinel-2 (HLS) to support ecosystem assessment
Feng Gao, Jyoti Jennewein, W. Dean Hively, Alexander M. Soroka, Alison Thieme, Dawn Bradley, Jason Keppler, Steven Mirsky, Uvirkaa Akumaga
2023, Science of Remote Sensing (7)
Cover crops are planted to reduce soil erosion, increase soil fertility, and improve watershed management. In the Delmarva Peninsula of the eastern United States, winter cover crops are essential for reducing nutrient and sediment losses from farmland. Cost-share programs have been created to incentivize cover crops to achieve conservation objectives....
2021–2022 Statewide Abundance Estimates for the Florida Manatee
Timothy A. Gowan, Holly H. Edwards, Andrea M. Krzystan, Julien Martin, J. A. Hostetler
2023, Technical Report TR-27
Knowing the population size of Florida manatees (Trichechus manatus latirostris) is critical for conservation and management of this threatened species. Martin et al. (2015) and Hostetler et al. (2018) applied statistical models that incorporated multiple data sources to estimate the statewide abundance of manatees from aerial surveys f lown in...
Multiple dimensions of functional diversity affect stream fish β-diversity
Luke Max Bower, Lauren Stoczynski, Brandon K. Peoples, Christopher J. Patrick, Bryan L. Brown
2023, Freshwater Biology (68) 437-451
When investigating metacommunity dynamics, functional differences among species are often assumed to be as important as environmental differences between sites in determining β-diversity. However, few studies have examined the influence of functional diversity on β-diversity. We examine the relative importance of regional functional diversity partitioned by niche dimensions and...
Borealization of nearshore fishes on an interior Arctic shelf over multiple decades
Vanessa R. von Biela, Sarah M. Laske, Ashley E. Stanek, Randy J Brown, Kenneth H. Dunton
2023, Global Change Biology (29) 1822-1838
Borealization is a type of community reorganization where Arctic specialists are replaced by species with more boreal distributions in response to climatic warming. The process of borealization is often exemplified by the northward range expansions and subsequent proliferation of boreal species on the Pacific and Atlantic...
Revised age and regional correlations of Cenozoic strata on Bat Mountain, Death Valley region, California, USA, from zircon U-Pb geochronology of sandstones and ash-fall tuffs
Theresa Maude Schwartz, Amanda Kate Souders, Jens-Erik Lundstern, Amy K. Gilmer, Ren A. Thompson
2023, Geosphere (19) 235-257
Basin analysis and tectonic reconstructions of the Cenozoic history of the Death Valley region, California, USA, are hindered by a lack of volcanic (tuff) age control in many stratigraphic successions exposed in the Grapevine and Funeral Mountains of California, USA. Although maximum depositional ages (MDAs) interpreted from detrital zircon U-Pb...
Genetic architecture and evolution of color variation in American black bears
E. Puckett, I. S. Davis, D. C. Harper, K. Wakamatsu, G. Battu, J. L. Belant, D. E. Beyer, C. Carpenter, A. P. Crupi, M. Davidson, C. S. DePerno, N. Forman, N. L. Fowler, D. L. Garshelis, N. Gould, K. Gunther, Mark A. Haroldson, S. Ito, David. M Kocka, C. Lackey, R. Leahy, C. Lee-Roney, T. Lewis, A. Lutto, K. McGowan, C. Olfenbuttel, M. Orlando, A. Platt, M. D. Pollard, M. Ramaker, Heather Reich, Jaime L. Sajecki, S. K. Sell, J. Strules, S. Thompson, Frank T. van Manen, Craig Whitman, R. Williamson, F. Winslow, C. B. Kaelin, M. S. Marks, G. S. Barsh
2023, Current Biology (33) 86-97
Color variation is a frequent evolutionary substrate for camouflage in small mammals, but the underlying genetics and evolutionary forces that drive color variation in natural populations of large mammals are mostly unexplained. The American black bear, Ursus americanus (U. americanus), exhibits a range of colors including the cinnamon morph, which has a similar...
Estimates of k0 and effects on ground motions in the San Francisco Bay area
Tara Nye, Valerie J. Sahakian, Elias King, Annemarie S. Baltay, Alexis Klimasewski
2023, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (113) 823-842
Ground‐motion studies are a key component of seismic hazard analyses and often rely on information of the source, path, and site. Extensive research has been done on each of these parameters; however, site‐specific studies are of particular interest to seismic hazard studies, especially in the field of earthquake engineering, as...
Using landscape genomics to delineate future adaptive potential for climate change in the Yosemite toad (Anaxyrus canorus)
Paul A. Maier, Amy G. Vandergast, Andrew J. Bohonak
2023, Evolutionary Applications (16) 74-97
An essential goal in conservation biology is delineating population units that maximize the probability of species persisting into the future and adapting to future environmental change. However, future-facing conservation concerns are often addressed using retrospective patterns that could be irrelevant. We recommend a novel landscape genomics framework for delineating future...
Geochemistry and fluxes of gases from hydrothermal features at Newberry Volcano, Oregon, USA
Jennifer L. Lewicki, William C. Evans, Steven E. Ingebritsen, Laura E. Clor, Peter J. Kelly, Sara Peek, Robert A. Jensen, Andrew G. Hunt
2023, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (433)
We present the chemical and isotopic compositions of gases and fluxes of CO2 from the hydrothermal features of Newberry Volcano, a large composite volcano located in Oregon's Cascade Range with a summit caldera that hosts two lakes, Paulina and East Lakes. Gas samples were collected from 1982 to 2021 from Paulina...
