New craters on Mars: An updated catalog
Ingrid J. Daubar, Colin M. Dundas, Alfred S. McEwen, Annabelle Gao, D. Wexler, Sylvain Piqueux, Gareth S. Collins, Katarina Miljkovic, T. Neidhart, J. Eschenfelder, Gwen D. Bart, Kiri L. Wagstaff, Gary Doran, Liliya Posiolova, Michael C. Malin, Gunnar Speth, David Susko, A. Werynski
2022, Journal of Geophysical Research E: Planets (127)
We present a catalog of new impacts on Mars. These craters formed in the last few decades, constrained with repeat orbital imaging. Crater diameters range from 58 m down to <1 m. For each impact, we report whether it formed a single crater or a cluster (58% clusters); albedo features of the...
What is a stand? Assessing the variability of composition and structure in floodplain forest ecosystems across spatial scales in the Upper Mississippi River
Marcella Windmuller-Campione, Laura F. Reuling, Molly Van Appledorn, Daniel M. Nilesen, Andrew R. Meier
2022, Forest Ecology and Management (520)
The forest stand typically represents relatively homogenous forest conditions; the forest stand is generally the unit at which forest attributes are assessed, summarized, and subsequently managed. However, some ecosystems, such as the floodplain forests of the Upper Mississippi River (UMR), can...
Functional composition of plant communities mediates biomass effects on ecosystem service recovery across an experimental dryland restoration network
Kathleen R. Balazs, Seth M. Munson, Bradley J. Butterfield
2022, Functional Ecology (36) 2317-2330
Land degradation can result in a loss of critical ecosystem services that we often seek to restore through re-establishment of desired plant communities. Trait-based approaches have the potential to target specific ecosystem services based on associations between the functional composition of plant communities and ecosystem properties that serve as...
Rapid implementation of high-frequency wastewater surveillance of SARS-CoV-2
Meghan M. Holst, John Person, Wiley Jennings, Rory M. Welsh, Michael J. Focazio, Paul M. Bradley, W. Bane Schill, Amy E. Kirby, Zachary A. Marsh
2022, ES&T: Water (2) 2201-2210
There have been over 507 million cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), resulting in 6 million deaths globally. Wastewater surveillance has emerged as a valuable tool in understanding SARS-CoV-2 burden in communities. The...
DevelNet: Earthquake detection on Develocorder films with deep learning: Application to the rangely earthquake control experiment
Kaiwen Wang, William L Ellsworth, Gregory C. Beroza, Weiqiang Zhu, Justin Rubinstein
2022, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (93) 2515-2528
There exists over a century of instrumental seismic data; however, most seismograms recorded before the 1980s are only available in analog form. Although analog seismograms are of great value, they are underutilized due to the difficulties of making quantitative measurements on the original...
Over a third of groundwater in USA public-supply aquifers is Anthropocene-age and susceptible to surface contamination
Bryant Jurgens, Kirsten Faulkner, Peter B. McMahon, Andrew Hunt, Gerolamo C. Casile, Megan B. Young, Kenneth Belitz
2022, Nature Communications Earth & Environment (2)
The distribution of groundwater age is useful for evaluating the susceptibility and sustainability of groundwater resources. Here, we compute the aquifer-scale cumulative distribution function to characterize the age distribution for 21 Principal Aquifers that account for ~80% of public-supply pumping in the United States. The aquifer-scale...
Characterization of and temporal changes in groundwater quality of the Upper Black Squirrel Creek Basin, El Paso County, Colorado, 2018–20
Zachary D. Kisfalusi, Nancy J. Bauch, Carleton R. Bern
2022, Scientific Investigations Report 2022-5061
In 2018–20, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Upper Black Squirrel Creek Ground Water Management District, sampled 48 wells for Phase III of a multiphase plan investigating groundwater quality in the alluvial aquifer of the Upper Black Squirrel Creek Basin (UBSB), El Paso County, Colorado. Results for samples collected...
West Virginia and Landsat
U.S. Geological Survey
2022, Fact Sheet 2022-3044
Many may recall “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” made famous by John Denver, leads with the lyric “almost heaven, West Virginia, Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River.” The descriptors are apt. Nicknamed the “Mountain State,” West Virginia inspires thoughts of coal mining or logging in the Appalachian Mountains and valleys, or...
Book review: WIldflowers of the Indiana Dunes National Park by Nathanael Pilla and Scott Namestnik
Noel B. Pavlovic
2022, Great Lakes Botanist (61) 58-60
No abstract available....
Lake Tahoe clarity and associated conditions, 2022
Alan Heyvaert, Ramon C. Naranjo, John Melack, Shohei Watanabe, Geoffrey Schladow, Sudeep Chandra
2022, Report
Lake Tahoe’s clarity remains a key indicator of overall ecosystem status, and scientific understanding about factors affecting lake clarity continues to evolve. The purpose of this briefing memorandum is to summarize the status of clarity metrics and drivers of change discussed in the 2022 TSAC Data Synthesis and Analysis report....
What’s It worth? Estimating the potential value of early warnings of cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms for managing freshwater reservoirs in Kansas, United States
Emily Pindilli, Keith A. Loftin
2022, Frontiers in Enviornmental Science (10)
Cyanobacterial blooms are an issue drawing increasing concern in freshwater lakes and reservoirs in the United States due to the real and sometimes perceived harms they can cause through cyanotoxin production or other effects. These types of blooms are often referred to as cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (cyanoHABs)....
New England WSC WaterMarks Summer '22
Tomas W. Smieszek
2022, Newsletter
No abstract available....
Microplastic particles in dust-on-snow, Upper Colorado River Basin, Colorado Rocky Mountains, 2013–16
Richard L. Reynolds, Harland L. Goldstein, Raymond F. Kokaly, Jeff Derry
2022, Open-File Report 2022-1061
Atmospheric dust deposited to snow cover (dust-on-snow) diminishes snow-surface albedo (SSA) to result in early onset and accelerated rate of melting, effects that challenge management of downstream water resources. During ongoing investigations to identify the light-energy absorbing dust particles most responsible for diminished SSA in the Upper Colorado River Basin...
U.S. Geological Survey response to Hurricane Maria flooding in Puerto Rico and characterization of peak streamflows observed September 20–22, 2017
Julieta M. Gómez-Fragoso, Mark Smith, Marilyn Santiago
2022, Scientific Investigations Report 2022-5040
Hurricane Maria struck the island of Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017, as a Category 4 storm. The hurricane traversed the island from southeast to northwest and produced recorded 48-hour rainfall totals of up to 30.01 inches. Estimates of the human death toll range from 2,975 to 4,645, possibly more.The...
Elevated nitrogen deposition to fire-prone forests adjacent to urban and agricultural areas, Colorado front range, USA
Ruth C. Heindel, Sheila F. Murphy, Deborah A. Repert, Gregory A. Wetherbee, Alexander Liethen, David W. Clow, Toby A. Halamka
2022, Earth’s Future (10)
As humans increasingly dominate the nitrogen cycle, deposition of reactive nitrogen (Nr) will continue to have adverse consequences for ecosystems. In the Rocky Mountains, Nr deposition remains elevated and has become increasingly dominated by ammonium, despite efforts to reduce emissions. Currently, spatial models of Nr deposition do...
Migration and transformation of coastal wetlands in response to rising seas
Michael Osland, Bogdan Chivoiu, Nicholas Enwright, Karen M. Thorne, Glenn R. Guntenspergen, James Grace, Leah Dale, William Brooks, Nathaniel Herold, John W. Day, Fred H. Sklar, Christopher M. Swarzenski
2022, Science Advances (8)
Coastal wetlands are not only among the world’s most valued ecosystems but also among the most threatened by high greenhouse gas emissions that lead to accelerated sea level rise. There is intense debate regarding the extent to which landward migration of wetlands might compensate for seaward wetland losses....
Hydrogeology and simulation of groundwater flow in the Lucerne Valley groundwater basin, California
Christina Stamos-Pfeiffer, Joshua Larsen, Robert E. Powell, Jonathan C. Matti, Peter Martin
2022, Scientific Investigations Report 2022-5048
The Lucerne Valley is in the southwestern part of the Mojave Desert and is about 75 miles northeast of Los Angeles, California. The Lucerne Valley groundwater basin encompasses about 230 square miles and is separated from the Upper Mojave Valley groundwater basin by splays of the Helendale Fault. Since its...
Assessment of persistent chemicals of concern in white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) in the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River, southeastern Washington, 2009
Sean E. Payne, Daniel R. Wise, Jay W. Davis, Elena B. Nilsen
2022, Scientific Investigations Report 2022-5020
White sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) are long-lived, late-maturing, benthic-feeding fish that are ideal candidates for assessing the bioaccumulation of persistent chemicals. In this study, composite tissue samples of brain, liver, gonad, and fillet were collected from white sturgeon in 2009 from five sites in the Hanford Reach of the Columbia...
Potential effects of sea level rise on nearshore habitat availability for surf smelt (Hypomesus pretiosus) and eelgrass (Zostera marina), Puget Sound, Washington
Collin D. Smith, Theresa L. Liedtke
2022, Open-File Report 2022-1054
In this study we examine the potential effects of three predicted sea level rise (SLR) scenarios on the nearshore eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) and surf smelt (Hypomesus pretiosus) spawning habitats along a beach on Bainbridge Island, Washington. Baseline bathymetric, geomorphological, and biological surveys were conducted to determine the existing...
Medium spatial resolution mapping of global land cover and land cover change across multiple decades from Landsat
Mark A. Friedl, Curtis E. Woodcock, Pontus Olofsson, Zhe Zhu, Thomas R. Loveland, Radost Stanimirova, Paulo Arevalo, Eric L. Bullock, Kai-Ting Hu, Yingtong Zhang, Konrad Turlej, Katelyn Tarrio, McAvoy Kristina, Noel Gorelick, Jonathan A. Wang, Christopher Barber, Carlos Souza Jr.
2022, Frontiers in Remote Sensing (3)
Land cover maps are essential for characterizing the biophysical properties of the Earth’s land areas. Because land cover information synthesizes a rich array of information related to both the ecological condition of land areas and their exploitation by humans, they are widely used for basic and applied research that requires...
Biofilms in the Critical Zone: Distribution and mediation of processes
Marjorie S. Schulz, Kristen L. Manies
Adam S. Wymore, Wendy H. Yang, Whendee L. Silver, William H. McDowell, Jon Chorover, editor(s)
2022, Book chapter, Biogeochemistry of the Critical Zone
Microbial biofilms occur in all levels of the Critical Zone (CZ); they are on and in the vegetation, throughout the soil-saprolite zone, and along fractures in deep subsurface. Here we discuss biofilms in each level of the CZ with a focus in the soil-saprolite continuum. We show how scanning electron...
Asking nicely: Best practices for requesting data
Steve R. Midway, Nicholas A. Sievert, Abigail Lynch, Joanna B. Whittier, Kevin L. Pope
2022, Ecological Indicators (70)
Compiling disparate datasets into publicly available composite databases helps natural resource communities explore ecological trends and effectively manage across spatiotemporal scales. Though some studies have reported on the database construction phase, fewer have evaluated the data acquisition and distribution process. To...
The role of organic matter diversity on the Re-Os systematics of organic-rich sedimentary units: Insights into the controls of isochron age determinations from the lacustrine Green River Formation
Jeffrey T Pietras, Abby Dennett, David Selby, Justin E. Birdwell
2022, Chemical Geology (604)
The range of 187Re/188Os values measured from samples of five organic-rich lacustrine mudstones units in the Eocene Green River Formation in the...
Evaluating the efficacy of aerial infrared surveys to detect artificial polar bear dens
Susannah P. Woodruff, Justin J Blank, Sheyna S Wisdom, Ryan H. Wilson, George M. Durner, Todd C. Atwood, Craig J Perham, Christina HM Pohl
2022, Wildlife Society Bulletin (46)
The need to balance economic development with impacts to Arctic wildlife has been a prominent subject since petroleum exploration began on the North Slope of Alaska, USA, in the late 1950s. The North Slope region includes polar bears (Ursus maritimus) of the southern Beaufort Sea subpopulation,...
Potential for critical mineral deposits in Maine, USA
John F. Slack, F.M. Beck, D.C. Bradley, M. M. Felch, Robert G. Marvinney, A.T.H. Whittaker
2022, Atlantic Geoscience (58) 155-191
An analysis of the potential for deposits of critical minerals and elements in Maine presented here includes data and discussions for antimony, beryllium, cesium, chromium, cobalt, graphite, lithium, manganese, niobium, platinum group elements, rhenium, rare earth elements, tin, tantalum, tellurium, titanium, uranium, vanadium, tungsten, and zirconium. Deposits are divided into...
