Nearshore single-beam bathymetry data collected in 2015, Dauphin Island, Alabama
Nancy T. DeWitt, Chelsea A. Stalk, James G. Flocks, Julie Bernier, Kyle W. Kelso, Jake J. Fredericks, Thomas M. Tuten
2018, Data Series 1095
Dauphin Island, Alabama, is a barrier island located in the northern Gulf of Mexico that supports local residences, tourism, commercial infrastructure, and historic Fort Gaines. During the past decade, Dauphin Island was affected by several major hurricanes—Hurricanes Ivan (2004), Katrina (2005), and Isaac (2012)—and storms, along with sea-level rise, continue...
Geologic framework and hydrostratigraphy of the Edwards and Trinity aquifers within Hays County, Texas
Allan K. Clark, Diana E. Pedraza, Robert R. Morris
2018, Scientific Investigations Map 3418
The Edwards and Trinity aquifers are classified as major aquifers by the Texas Water Development Board and are major sources of water in south-central Texas, where Hays County is located. Detailed maps and descriptions of the geologic framework and hydrostratigraphic units (HSUs) of these karstic aquifers in Hays County are...
Distribution of mining-related trace elements in streambed and flood-plain sediment along the middle Big River and tributaries in the Southeast Missouri Barite District, 2012–15
David C. Smith, John G. Schumacher
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5103
Lead mining first began in the Big River watershed during the 1700s. Lead was the primary metal mined throughout most of the 1700s and early 1800s and it continued to be mined until the mid-1900s. Barite mining began in the middle part of the watershed in the mid- to late...
Hydrodynamics of a tidally‐forced coral reef atoll
Rebecca H. Green, Ryan J. Lowe, Mark L. Buckley
2018, Journal of Geophysical Research C: Oceans (123) 7084-7101
The hydrodynamics of a tidally forced semi‐enclosed coral reef atoll (North Scott) at the edge of the continental shelf of northwestern Australia were investigated by combining field observations and numerical modeling. The observations revealed that the spring tidal range outside the atoll reaches 4 m, and as the water level drops...
Downhole log evidence for the coexistence of structure II gas hydrate and free gas below the bottom simulating reflector in the South China Sea
Jin Qian, Xiujuan Wang, Timothy S. Collett, Yiqun Guo, Dongju Kang, Jiapeng Jin
2018, Marine and Petroleum Geology (98) 662-674
Stratigraphic layered pore-filling gas hydrates are identified above the bottom simulating reflector (BSR) using the well log and core data acquired at Sites W11 and W17 during the third gas hydrate drilling expedition conducted by China's Geological Survey/Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey (GMGS3) in the South China Sea. A seismic profile near Site W17, reveal the presence...
Diet and condition of age‐0 Scaphirhynchus Sturgeon: Implications for shallow‐water habitat restoration
A. P. Civiello, N. J. C. Gosch, T. R. Gemeinhardt, M. L. Miller, J. L. Bonneau, Kimberly Chojnacki, Aaron J. DeLonay, James M. Long
2018, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (38) 1324-1338
Insufficient food during early life could limit the population growth of endangered Pallid Sturgeon Scaphirhynchus albus in the lower Missouri River. Shallow‐water habitat restoration is intended to provide nursery benefits, including food, for young sturgeon, but the effect of shallow‐water habitat on their diet is unknown. Age‐0 Pallid Sturgeon are rare, providing...
Assessment of environmental flows in the middle Verde River watershed, Arizona
Bruce Gungle, Nicholas V. Paretti
2018, Fact Sheet 2018-3062
This report summarizes analyses of middle Verde River watershed environmental flows detailed in U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5100, “Preliminary synthesis and assessment of environmental flows in the middle Verde River watershed, Arizona," by N.V. Paretti, A.M.D. Brasher, S.L. Pearlstein, D.M. Skow, B. Gungle, and...
An intercomparison of oceanic methane and nitrous oxide measurements
Samuel Wilson, Hermann Bange, Damian Arevalo-Martinez, Jonathan Barnes, Alberto V. Borges, Ian Brown, John Bullister, Macarena Burgos, David Capelle, Michael Casso, Mercedes de la Paz, Laura Farias, Lindsay Fenwick, Sara Ferron, Gerardo Garcia, MIchael Glockzin, David Karl, Annette Kock, Sarah Laperriere, Cliff S. Law, Cara Manning, Andrew Marriner, Jukka-Pekka Myllykangas, John Pohlman, Andrew Rees, Allison Santoro, Philippe Tortll, Robert C. Upstill-Goddard, David Wisegarver, Gui-Ling Zhang, Gregor Rehder
2018, Biogeosciences (15) 5801-5907
Large-scale climatic forcing is impacting oceanic biogeochemical cycles and is expected to influence the water-column distribution of trace gases, including methane and nitrous oxide. Our ability as a scientific community to evaluate changes in the water-column inventories of methane and nitrous oxide depends largely on our capacity to obtain robust...
Diatom floras in lakes in the Ruby Mountains and East Humboldt Range, Nevada, USA: A tool for assessing high-elevation climatic variability
Scott W. Starratt
2018, Book chapter, Nova Hedwigia
Local conditions, including lake size, depth, bathymetric profile, watershed characteristics, and timing and extent of ice cover determine the characteristics of diatom floras, and how those assemblages respond to short and long-term changes in climate. The diatom assemblages from fourteen sediment samples collected from marginal and profundal zones of seven...
Investigating the mixing efficiencies of liquid-to-liquid chemical injection manifolds for aquatic invasive species management
Thomas J. Zolper, Aaron R. Cupp, David L. Smith
2018, Journal of Fluids Engineering (141) 1-14
Aquatic invasive species (AIS) have spread throughout the United States via major rivers and tributaries. Locks and dams positioned along affected waterways, specifically lock chambers, are being evaluated as potential management sites to prevent further expansion into new areas. Recent research has shown that infusion of chemicals (e.g., carbon dioxide)...
Chronic toxicity of 4-nonylphenol to two unionid mussels in water-only exposures
Chris D. Ivey, Ning Wang, David Alvarez, Edward J. Hammer, Candice R. Bauer
2018, Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology (101) 423-427
Limited studies indicate that mussels are generally insensitive to organic chemicals; however, these studies were conducted in acute or short-term exposures, and little is known about the chronic sensitivity of mussels to organic chemicals. We evaluated the chronic (28 days) toxicity of 4-nonylphenol (4-NP) to two commonly tested species of mussels:...
Regional patterns in the geochemistry of oil-field water, southern San Joaquin Valley, California, USA
Peter B. McMahon, Justin T. Kulongoski, Avner Vengosh, Isabelle M. Cozzarelli, Matthew K. Landon, Yousif K. Kharaka, Janice M. Gillespie, Tracy Davis
2018, Applied Geochemistry (98) 127-140
Chemical and isotopic data for water co-extracted with hydrocarbons in oil and gas fields are commonly used to examine the source of the formation water and possible impacts on groundwater in areas of oil and gas development. Understanding the geochemical variability of oil-field water could help to evaluate its origin and delineate possible contamination of shallow aquifers in...
100-year lower Mississippi floods in a global climate model: Characteristics and future changes
Karin van der Wiel, Sarah B. Kapnick, Gabriel A. Vecchi, James A. Smith, Paul C. D. Milly, Liwei Jia
2018, Journal of Hydrometeorology (19) 1547-1563
Floods in the Mississippi basin can have large negative societal, natural, and economic impacts. Understanding the drivers of floods, now and in the future, is relevant for risk management and infrastructure-planning purposes. We investigate the drivers of 100-yr-return lower Mississippi River floods using a global coupled climate model with an...
Altitude of the potentiometric surface, 2000–15, and historical water-level changes in the Memphis aquifer in the Memphis area, Tennessee
James A. Kingsbury
2018, Scientific Investigations Map 3415
The Memphis and Fort Pillow aquifers are the principal sources of water for municipal, industrial, and commercial uses in the Memphis area. About 207 million gallons per day of groundwater were withdrawn in Shelby County, Tennessee, from both aquifers in 2010 for these uses, with most of the water coming...
Detecting southern California’s white sharks with environmental DNA
Kevin D. Lafferty, Kasey C. Benesh, Andrew R. Mahon, Christopher L. Jerde, Christopher G. Lowe
2018, Frontiers in Marine Science (5) 1-6
To improve ability to detect white sharks without the need for tags, or visual census, we developed a species-specific environmental DNA (eDNA) assay that targets a 163 bp fragment of the white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) mitochondrial cytochrome B gene on a digital droplet PCR (ddPCR) platform. We used this marker...
Hydrologic characteristics and water quality of headwater streams and wetlands at the Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site, Summit area, Blair and Cambria Counties, Pennsylvania, 2014–16
Charles A. Cravotta III, Daniel G. Galeone, Kathy A. Penrod
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1125
The Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site (ALPO) in Blair and Cambria Counties, Pennsylvania, protects historic features of the first railroad portage over the Allegheny Front and the first railroad tunnel in the United States. This report, which was completed by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the National...
Current research in land, water, and agroecosystems: ASABE journals 2017 year in review
Kyle R. Douglas-Mankin
2018, Transactions of the ASABE (61) 1639-1651
This article highlights current research into land and water resources, agroecosystems, and agricultural production systems published by the Natural Resources and Environmental Systems (NRES) community of ASABE journals (Transactions of the ASABE and Applied Engineering in Agriculture) in 2017. This article reviews the context, scope, and key results of the...
Performance assessments of a novel well design for reducing exposure to bedrock‐derived arsenic
Richard B. Winston, Joseph D. Ayotte
2018, Groundwater (56) 762-769
Arsenic in groundwater is a serious problem in New England, particularly for domestic well owners drawing water from bedrock aquifers. The overlying glacial aquifer generally has waters with low arsenic concentrations but is less used because of frequent loss of well water during dry periods and the vulnerability to surface‐sourced...
Tidal response of groundwater in a leaky aquifer—Application to Oklahoma
Chi-Yuen Wang, Mai-Linh Doan, Lian Xu, Andrew J. Barbour
2018, Water Resources Research (54) 8019-8033
Quantitative interpretation of the tidal response of water levels measured in wells has long been made either with a model for perfectly confined aquifers or with a model for purely unconfined aquifers. However, many aquifers may be neither totally confined nor purely unconfined at the frequencies of tidal loading but...
Unusual foraging observations associated with seabird die-offs in Alaska
Bryce Robinson, Lucas H. DeCicco, James A. Johnson, Daniel R. Ruthrauff
2018, Marine Ornithology: Journal of Seabird Research and Conservation (46) 149-153
We report the first documentation of off-water foraging by the Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel Oceanodroma furcata and Short-tailed Shearwater Ardenna tenuirostris, a behavior not previously documented in any member of the families Hydrobatidae or Procellariidae. Over a two-week period in September 2016, we regularly observed individuals of these species over land on...
Threats to cranes related to agriculture
Jane E. Austin
2018, Book chapter, Cranes and agriculture: A global guide for sharing the landscape
The greatest threats to cranes worldwide are related to agricultural activities. They include direct losses of wetlands or grasslands; altered wetland hydrology due to water control systems such as dams or irrigation ditches; fire; direct and indirect impacts from agricultural chemicals; human disturbances; disease risks where cranes congregate in high...
A 30-m landsat-derived cropland extent product of Australia and China using random forest machine learning algorithm on Google Earth Engine cloud computing platform
Pardhasaradhi Teluguntla, Prasad S. Thenkabail, Adam Oliphant, Jun Xiong, Murali Krishna Gumma, Russell G. Congalton, Kamini Yadav, Alfredo Huete
2018, ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (144) 325-340
Mapping high resolution (30-m or better) cropland extent over very large areas such as continents or large countries or regions accurately, precisely, repeatedly, and rapidly is of great importance for addressing the global food and water security challenges. Such cropland extent products capture individual farm fields, small or large, and...
Effects of watershed and in-stream liming on macroinvertebrate communities in acidified tributaries to Honnedaga Lake, NY
Gregory Lampman, Scott D. George, Barry P. Baldigo, Gregory B. Lawrence, Randall L. Fuller
2018, Summary Report 18-18
Liming techniques are being explored in many regions as a means to accelerate the recovery of aquatic biota from decades of acid deposition. The preservation or restoration of native sportfish populations has usually been the impetus for liming programs, and as such, less attention has been paid to its effects...
What makes a first‐magnitude spring?: Global sensitivity analysis of a speleogenesis model to gain insight into karst network and spring genesis
Wesley R. Henson, Rob de Rooij, Wendy D. Graham
2018, Water Resources Research (54) 7417-7434
Often, karstic conduit network geometry is unknown. This lack of knowledge represents a significant limitation when modeling flow and solute transport in karst systems. In this study, we apply Morris Method Global Sensitivity Analysis to a speleogenesis model to identify model input parameters, and combinations thereof, that most significantly influence...
Preliminary evaluation of behavioral response of nesting waterbirds to small unmanned aircraft flight
Kaitlyn Reintsma, Peter C. McGowan, Carl R. Callahan, Tom Collier, David Gray, Jeffery D. Sullivan, Diann J. Prosser
2018, Waterbirds (41) 326-331
Small unmanned aircraft systems present an emerging technology with the potential to survey colonial waterbird populations while reducing disturbance in comparison to traditional ground counts. Recent research with these systems has been performed on some colonially nesting avian species; however, none have focused on wading bird species. During 2015–2016, this...
