Carboniferous climate teleconnections archived in coupled bioapatite δ18OPO4 and 87Sr/86Sr records from the epicontinental Donets Basin, Ukraine
Isabel P. Montanez, Dillon J. Osleger, J.-H. Chen, Barbara E. Wortham, Robert G. Stamm, Tamara I. Nemyrovska, Julie M. Griffin, Vladislav I. Poletaev, Bruce R. Wardlaw
2018, Earth and Planetary Science Letters (492) 89-101
Reconstructions of paleo-seawater chemistry are largely inferred from biogenic records of epicontinental seas. Recent studies provide considerable evidence for large-scale spatial and temporal variability in the environmental dynamics of these semi-restricted seas that leads to the decoupling of epicontinental isotopic records from those of the open ocean. We present conodont...
Biological responses of Crested and Least auklets to volcanic destruction of nesting habitat in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska
Gary S. Drew, John F. Piatt, Jeffrey C. Williams
2018, The Auk (135) 477-485
Crested Auklets (Aethia cristatella) and Least Auklets (A. pusilla) are crevice-nesting birds that breed in large mixed colonies at relatively few sites in the Aleutian Island archipelago, Bering Sea, Gulf of Alaska, and Sea of Okhotsk. Many of these colonies are located on active volcanic islands. The eruption of Kasatochi...
Science support for evaluating natural recovery of polychlorinated biphenyl concentrations in fish from Crab Orchard Lake, Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge, Illinois
Bethany K. Kunz, Jo Ellen Hinck, Robin D. Calfee, Greg L. Linder, Edward E. Little
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1006
IntroductionCrab Orchard Lake in southern Illinois is one of the largest and most popular recreational lakes in the state. Construction of the nearly 7,000-acre reservoir in the late 1930s created employment opportunities through the Works Progress Administration, and the lake itself was intended to supply water, control flooding, and provide...
Spatial extent of analysis influences observed patterns of population genetic structure in a widespread darter species (Percidae)
Jane E. Argentina, Paul L. Angermeier, Eric M. Hallerman, Stuart A. Welsh
2018, Freshwater Biology (63) 1185-1198
Connectivity among stream fish populations allows for exchange of genetic material and helps maintain genetic diversity, adaptive potential and population stability over time. Changes in species demographics and population connectivity have the potential to permanently alter the genetic patterns of stream fish, although these changes through space and time...
Hydrologic characteristics of freshwater mussel habitat: novel insights from modeled flows
C. Ashton Drew, Michele Eddy, Thomas J. Kwak, W. Gregory Cope, Tom Augspurger
2018, Freshwater Science (37) 343-356
The ability to model freshwater stream habitat and species distributions is limited by the spatially sparse flow data available from long-term gauging stations. Flow data beyond the immediate vicinity of gauging stations would enhance our ability to explore and characterize hydrologic habitat suitability. The southeastern USA supports high aquatic biodiversity,...
Testing a two-scale focused conservation strategy for reducing phosphorus and sediment loads from agricultural watersheds
Rebecca B. Carvin, Laura W. Good, Faith A. Fitzpatrick, Curt Diehl, Katherine Songer, Kimberly J. Meyer, John C. Panuska, Steve Richter, Kyle Whalley
2018, Journal of Soil and Water Conservation (73) 298-309
This study tested a focused strategy for reducing phosphorus (P) and sediment loads in agricultural streams. The strategy involved selecting small watersheds identified as likely to respond relatively quickly, and then focusing conservation practices on high-contributing fields within those watersheds. Two 5,000 ha (12,360 ac) watersheds in the Driftless Area...
Long-term changes in soil and stream chemistry across an acid deposition gradient in the northeastern United States
Jason Siemion, Michael McHale, Gregory B. Lawrence, Douglas A. Burns, Michael R. Antidormi
2018, Journal of Environmental Quality (47) 410-418
Declines in acidic deposition across Europe and North America have led to decreases in surface water acidity and signs of chemical recovery of soils from acidification. To better understand the link between recovery of soils and surface waters, chemical trends in precipitation, soils, and streamwater were investigated in three watersheds...
Estimates of long-term mean-annual nutrient loads considered for use in SPARROW models of the Midcontinental region of Canada and the United States, 2002 base year
David A. Saad, Glenn A. Benoy, Dale M. Robertson
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5051
Streamflow and nutrient concentration data needed to compute nitrogen and phosphorus loads were compiled from Federal, State, Provincial, and local agency databases and also from selected university databases. The nitrogen and phosphorus loads are necessary inputs to Spatially Referenced Regressions on Watershed Attributes (SPARROW) models. SPARROW models are a way...
Hydraulic, water-quality, and temperature performance of three types of permeable pavement under high sediment loading conditions
William R. Selbig, Nicolas Buer
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5037
Three permeable pavement surfaces - asphalt (PA), concrete (PC), and interlocking pavers (PIP) - were evaluated side-by-side to measure changes to the infiltrative capacity and water quality of stormwater runoff originating from a conventional asphalt parking lot in Madison, Wisconsin. During the 24-month monitoring period (2014-16), all three permeable pavements...
Groundwater-quality data from the eastern Snake River Plain Aquifer, Jerome and Gooding Counties, south-central Idaho, 2017
Kenneth D. Skinner
2018, Data Series 1085
Groundwater-quality samples and water-level data were collected from 36 wells in the Jerome/Gooding County area of the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer during June 2017. The wells included 30 wells sampled for the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Water-Quality Assessment project, plus an additional 6 wells were selected to increase...
Measuring and evaluating ecological flows from streams to regions: Steps towards national coverage
James E. McKenna Jr., Howard W. Reeves, Paul Seelbach
2018, Freshwater Biology (63) 874-890
Living aquatic communities are largely determined and maintained by the volume and quality of flowing waters, both within lotic systems and in receiving waters of coastal systems. However, flow is one of the most frequently and extensively altered features of rivers and streams; alteration effects are likely to be...
Effects of the proposed California WaterFix North Delta Diversion on survival of juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, northern California
Russell W. Perry, Adam C. Pope
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1078
The California Department of Water Resources and Bureau of Reclamation propose new water intake facilities on the Sacramento River in northern California that would convey some of the water for export to areas south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta (hereinafter referred to as the Delta) through tunnels rather...
U.S. Geological Survey science for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative—2016 annual report
Zachary H. Bowen, Ellen Aikens, Cameron L. Aldridge, Patrick J. Anderson, Timothy J. Assal, Anna D. Chalfoun, Geneva W. Chong, Cheryl A. Eddy-Miller, Steven L. Garman, Steve Germaine, Collin G. Homer, Aaron N. Johnston, Matthew J. Kauffman, Daniel J. Manier, Cynthia P. Melcher, Kirk A. Miller, Annika W. Walters, Jerrod D. Wheeler, Daniel J. Wieferich, Anna B. Wilson, Teal B. Wyckoff, Linda Zeigenfuss
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1048
This is the ninth annual report highlighting U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) science and decision-support activities conducted for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI). The activities address specific management needs identified by WLCI partner agencies. In fiscal year (FY) 2016, there were 26 active USGS WLCI science-based projects. Of these 26...
Flood-inundation maps for the Wabash River at Lafayette, Indiana
Moon H. Kim
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5017
Digital flood-inundation maps for an approximately 4.8-mile reach of the Wabash River at Lafayette, Indiana (Ind.) were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs. The inundation maps, which can be accessed through the USGS Flood Inundation Mapping Science web...
An initial validation of Landsat 5 and 7 derived surface water temperature for U.S. lakes, reservoirs, and estuaries
Blake A. Schaeffer, John Iiames, John L. Dwyer, Erin Urquhart, Wilson Salls, Jennifer Rover, Bridget Seegers
2018, International Journal of Remote Sensing (39) 7789-7805
The United States Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research Control Act of 2014 identified the need for forecasting and monitoring harmful algal blooms (HAB) in lakes, reservoirs, and estuaries across the nation. Temperature is a driver in HAB forecasting models that affects both HAB growth rates and toxin production. Therefore,...
Phosphorus speciation and solubility in aeolian dust deposited in the interior American West
Zhuojun Zhang, Harland L. Goldstein, Richard L. Reynolds, Yongfeng Hu, Xiaoming Wang, Mengqiang Zhu
2018, Environmental Science & Technology (52) 2658-2667
Aeolian dust is a significant source of phosphorus (P) to alpine oligotrophic lakes, but P speciation in dust and source sediments and its release kinetics to lake water remain unknown. Phosphorus K-edge XANES spectroscopy shows that calcium-bound P (Ca−P) is dominant in 10 of 12 dust samples (41−74%) deposited on...
Methods for peak-flow frequency analysis and reporting for streamgages in or near Montana based on data through water year 2015
Steven K. Sando, Peter M. McCarthy
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5046
This report documents the methods for peak-flow frequency (hereinafter “frequency”) analysis and reporting for streamgages in and near Montana following implementation of the Bulletin 17C guidelines. The methods are used to provide estimates of peak-flow quantiles for 50-, 42.9-, 20-, 10-, 4-, 2-, 1-, 0.5-, and 0.2-percent annual exceedance probabilities...
Modeled inundation limits of potential lahars from Mount Adams in the White Salmon River Valley, Washington
Julia P. Griswold, Thomas C. Pierson, Joseph A. Bard
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1013
Lahars large enough to reach populated areas are a hazard at Mount Adams, a massive volcano in the southern Cascade Range of Washington State (fig. 1). It is considered to be still active and has the potential to erupt again. By definition, lahars are gravity-driven flows of water-saturated mixtures of...
Ecosystems science: Genes to landscapes
U.S. Geological Survey
2018, Fact Sheet 2018-3030
Bountiful fisheries, healthy and resilient wildlife, flourishing forests and vibrant grasslands are coveted resources that benefit all Americans. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) science supports the conservation and management of the Nation’s fish and wildlife, and the landscapes they inhabit. Our biological resources—ecosystems and the wild things that live in them—are...
Lahar—River of volcanic mud and debris
Jon J. Major, Thomas C. Pierson, James W. Vallance
2018, Fact Sheet 2018-3024
Lahar, an Indonesian word for volcanic mudflow, is a mixture of water, mud, and volcanic rock flowing swiftly along a channel draining a volcano. Lahars can form during or after eruptions, or even during periods of inactivity. They are among the greatest threats volcanoes pose to people and property. Lahars...
Compilation and analysis of multiple groundwater-quality datasets for Idaho
Stephen A. Hundt, Candice B. Hopkins
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1079
Groundwater is an important source of drinking and irrigation water throughout Idaho, and groundwater quality is monitored by various Federal, State, and local agencies. The historical, multi-agency records of groundwater quality include a valuable dataset that has yet to be compiled or analyzed on a statewide level. The purpose...
Rethinking the use of seabed sediment temperature profiles to trace submarine groundwater flow
Barret L. Kurylyk, Dylan J. Irvine, A.A. Mohammed, V. F. Bense, Martin A. Briggs, J.W. Loder, Y. Geshelin
2018, Water Resources Research (54) 4595-4614
Submarine groundwater fluxes across the seafloor facilitate important hydrological and biogeochemical exchanges between oceans and seabed sediment, yet few studies have investigated spatially distributed groundwater fluxes in deep‐ocean environments such as continental slopes. Heat has been previously applied as a submarine groundwater tracer using an analytical solution to a heat...
Leaf to landscape responses of giant sequoia to hotter drought: An introduction and synthesis for the special section
Koren R. Nydick, Nathan L. Stephenson, Anthony R. Ambrose, Gregory P. Asner, Wendy L. Baxter, Adrian J. Das, Todd E. Dawson, Roberta E. Martin, Tarin Paz-Kagan
2018, Forest Ecology and Management (419-420) 249-256
Hotter droughts are becoming more common as climate change progresses, and they may already have caused instances of forest dieback on all forested continents. Learning from hotter droughts, including where on the landscape forests are more or less vulnerable to these events, is critical to help resource managers proactively prepare...
Downstream impacts of dams: shifts in benthic invertivorous fish assemblages
Rafaela Vendrametto Granzotti, Leandro E. Miranda, Angelo A. Agostinho, Luiz Carlos Gomes
2018, Aquatic Sciences (80) 1-14
Impoundments alter connectivity, sediment transport and water discharge in rivers and floodplains, affecting recruitment, habitat and resource availability for fish including benthic invertivorous fish, which represent an important link between primary producers and higher trophic levels in tropical aquatic ecosystems. We investigated long-term changes to water regime, water quality, and...
A snow density dataset for improving surface boundary conditions in Greenland ice sheet firn modeling
Robert Fausto, Jason E. Box, Baptiste Vandecrux, Dirk van As, Konrad Steffen, Michael J. MacFerrin, Horst Machguth, William Colgan, Daniel Mcgrath, Lora S. Koenig, Charalampos Charalampidis, Roger J. Braithwaite
2018, Frontiers in Earth Science (6)
The surface snow density of glaciers and ice sheets is of fundamental importance in converting volume to mass in both altimetry and surface mass balance studies, yet it is often poorly constrained. Site-specific surface snow densities are typically derived from empirical relations based on temperature and wind speed. These parameterizations...
