Environmental considerations related to mining of nonfuel minerals
Robert R. Seal II, Nadine M. Piatak, Bryn E. Kimball, Jane M. Hammarstrom
Klaus J. Schulz, DeYoung Jr., Robert R. Seal, II, Dwight Bradley, editor(s)
2017, Professional Paper 1802-B
Throughout most of human history, environmental stewardship during mining has not been a priority partly because of the lack of applicable laws and regulations and partly because of ignorance about the effects that mining can have on the environment. In the United States, the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969,...
Fluorine
Timothy S. Hayes, M. Michael Miller, Greta J. Orris, Nadine M. Piatak
Klaus J. Schulz, DeYoung Jr., Robert R. Seal, II, Dwight Bradley, editor(s)
2017, Professional Paper 1802-G
Fluorine compounds are essential in numerous chemical and manufacturing processes. Fluorspar is the commercial name for fluorite (isometric CaF2), which is the only fluorine mineral that is mined on a large scale. Fluorspar is used directly as a fluxing material and as an additive in different manufacturing processes. It is...
Selenium
Lisa L. Stillings
Klaus J. Schulz, DeYoung Jr., Robert R. Seal, II, Dwight Bradley, editor(s)
2017, Professional Paper 1802-Q
Selenium (Se) was discovered in 1817 in pyrite from copper mines in Sweden. It is a trace element in Earth’s crust, with an abundance of three to seven orders of magnitude less than the major rock-forming elements. Commercial use of selenium began in the United States in 1910, when it...
Vanadium
Karen D. Kelley, Clint Scott, Desiree E. Polyak, Bryn E. Kimball
Klaus J. Schulz, DeYoung Jr., Robert R. Seal, II, Dwight Bradley, editor(s)
2017, Professional Paper 1802-U
Vanadium is used primarily in the production of steel alloys; as a catalyst for the chemical industry; in the making of ceramics, glasses, and pigments; and in vanadium redox-flow batteries (VRBs) for large-scale storage of electricity. World vanadium resources in 2012 were estimated to be 63 million metric tons, which...
Platinum-group elements
Michael L. Zientek, Patricia J. Loferski, Heather L. Parks, Ruth F. Schulte, Robert R. Seal II
Klaus J. Schulz, DeYoung Jr., Robert R. Seal, II, Dwight Bradley, editor(s)
2017, Professional Paper 1802-N
The platinum-group elements (PGEs)—platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium, and osmium—are metals that have similar physical and chemical properties and tend to occur together in nature. PGEs are indispensable to many industrial applications but are mined in only a few places. The availability and accessibility of PGEs could be disrupted by...
Titanium
Laurel G. Woodruff, George M. Bedinger, Nadine M. Piatak
Klaus J. Schulz, DeYoung Jr., Robert R. Seal, II, Dwight Bradley, editor(s)
2017, Professional Paper 1802-T
Titanium is a mineral commodity that is essential to the smooth functioning of modern industrial economies. Most of the titanium produced is refined into titanium dioxide, which has a high refractive index and is thus able to impart a durable white color to paint, paper, plastic, rubber, and wallboard. Because...
Manganese
William F. Cannon, Bryn E. Kimball, Lisa A. Corathers
Klaus J. Schulz, DeYoung Jr., Robert R. Seal, II, Dwight Bradley, editor(s)
2017, Professional Paper 1802-L
Manganese is an essential element for modern industrial societies. Its principal use is in steelmaking, where it serves as a purifying agent in iron-ore refining and as an alloy that converts iron into steel. Although the amount of manganese consumed to make a ton of steel is small, ranging from...
Cobalt
John F. Slack, Bryn E. Kimball, Kim B. Shedd
Klaus J. Schulz, DeYoung Jr., Robert R. Seal, II, Dwight Bradley, editor(s)
2017, Professional Paper 1802-F
Cobalt is a silvery gray metal that has diverse uses based on certain key properties, including ferromagnetism, hardness and wear-resistance when alloyed with other metals, low thermal and electrical conductivity, high melting point, multiple valences, and production of intense blue colors when combined with silica. Cobalt is used mostly in...
Evaluation of the Hydrolab HL4 water-quality sonde and sensors
Teri T. Snazelle
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1153
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Hydrologic Instrumentation Facility evaluated three Hydrolab HL4 multiparameter water-quality sondes by OTT Hydromet. The sondes were equipped with temperature, conductivity, pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), and turbidity sensors. The sensors were evaluated for compliance with the USGS National Field Manual for the Collection of Water-Quality Data...
Groundwater levels, geochemistry, and water budget of the Tsala Apopka Lake system, west-central Florida, 2004–12
W. Scott McBride, Patricia A. Metz, Patrick J. Ryan, Mark Fulkerson, Harry C. Downing
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5132
Tsala Apopka Lake is a complex system of lakes and wetlands, with intervening uplands, located in Citrus County in west-central Florida. It is located within the 2,100 square mile watershed of the Withlacoochee River, which drains north and northwest towards the Gulf of Mexico. The lake system is managed by...
Laboratory evaluation of the Sequoia Scientific LISST-ABS acoustic backscatter sediment sensor
Teri T. Snazelle
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1154
Sequoia Scientific’s LISST-ABS is an acoustic backscatter sensor designed to measure suspended-sediment concentration at a point source. Three LISST-ABS were evaluated at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Hydrologic Instrumentation Facility (HIF). Serial numbers 6010, 6039, and 6058 were assessed for accuracy in solutions with varying particle-size distributions and for the...
Forecasting stream habitat and Brook Trout responses to climate change in Catoctin Mountain Park
Nathaniel P. Hitt, Craig D. Snyder, Erin Snook, Zachary Johnson, Matthew Morgan
2017, Report
Anticipating and mitigating the effects of climate change is a fundamental challenge for natural resource conservation. In this report, we respond to research needs identified by Catoctin Mountain Park (CATO) for native Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) conservation and management as part of the US Geological Survey (USGS) Natural Resources Preservation Program in FY15-16. We...
Peak discharge, flood frequency, and peak stage of floods on Big Cottonwood Creek at U.S. Highway 50 near Coaldale, Colorado, and Fountain Creek below U.S. Highway 24 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, 2016
Michael S. Kohn, Michael R. Stevens, Amanullah Mommandi, Aziz R. Khan
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5107
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Colorado Department of Transportation, determined the peak discharge, annual exceedance probability (flood frequency), and peak stage of two floods that took place on Big Cottonwood Creek at U.S. Highway 50 near Coaldale, Colorado (hereafter referred to as “Big Cottonwood Creek site”),...
A case study examining the efficacy of drainage setbacks for limiting effects to wetlands in the Prairie Pothole Region, USA
Brian Tangen, Raymond Finocchiaro
2017, Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management (8) 513-529
The enhancement of agricultural lands through the use of artificial drainage systems is a common practice throughout the United States, and recently the use of this practice has expanded in the Prairie Pothole Region. Many wetlands are afforded protection from the direct effects of drainage through regulation or legal agreements,...
Groundwater/surface-water interaction in central Sevier County, Tennessee, October 2015–2016
John K. Carmichael, Gregory C. Johnson
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1147
The U.S. Geological Survey evaluated the interaction of groundwater and surface water in the central part of Sevier County, Tennessee, from October 2015 through October 2016. Stream base flow was surveyed in December 2015 and in July and October 2016 to evaluate losing and gaining stream reaches along three streams...
Vegetation response of a dry shrubland community to feral goat management on the island of Moloka‘i, Hawai‘i
James D. Jacobi, Jonathan D. Stock
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5136
The Hawaiian Islands are well known for their unique ecosystem assemblages that have a high proportion of endemic flora and fauna. However, since human colonization of this archipelago—starting with the arrival of Polynesian sailors approximately 1,200 years ago, and particularly following western contact in 1778—thousands of non-native species have been...
Estimating belowground carbon stocks in isolated wetlands of the Northern Everglades Watershed, central Florida, using ground penetrating radar (GPR) and aerial imagery
Matthew McClellan, Xavier Comas, Ross Hinkle, David M. Sumner
2017, Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences (122) 2804-2816
Peat soils store a large fraction of the global soil carbon (C) pool and comprise 95% of wetland C stocks. While isolated freshwater wetlands in temperate and tropical biomes account for more than 20% of the global peatland C stock, most studies of wetland soil C have occurred in expansive...
Case studies of capacity building for biodiversity monitoring
Dirk S. Schmeller, Christos Arvanitidis, Monika Bohm, Neil Brummitt, Eva Chatzinikolaou, Mark John Costello, Hui Ding, Michael J. Gill, Peter Haase, Romain Juillard, Jaime Garcia-Moreno, Nathalie Pettorelli, Cui Peng, Corinna Riginos, Ute Schmiedel, John P. Simaika, Carly Waterman, Jun Wu, Haigen Xu, Jayne Belnap
Michele Walters, Robert J. Scholes, editor(s)
2017, Book chapter, The GEO handbook on biodiversity observation networks
Monitoring the status and trends of species is critical to their conservation and management. However, the current state of biodiversity monitoring is insufficient to detect such for most species and habitats, other than in a few localised areas. One of the biggest obstacles to adequate monitoring is the lack of...
Generalized hydrogeologic framework and groundwater budget for a groundwater availability study for the glacial aquifer system of the United States
Howard W. Reeves, Randall E. Bayless, Robert W. Dudley, Daniel T. Feinstein, Michael N. Fienen, Christopher J. Hoard, Glenn A. Hodgkins, Sharon L. Qi, Jason L. Roth, Jared J. Trost
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5015
The glacial aquifer system groundwater availability study seeks to quantify (1) the status of groundwater resources in the glacial aquifer system, (2) how these resources have changed over time, and (3) likely system response to future changes in anthropogenic and environmental conditions. The glacial aquifer system extends from Maine to...
Groundwater discharge to the Mississippi River and groundwater balances for the Interstate 94 Corridor surficial aquifer, Clearwater to Elk River, Minnesota, 2012–14
Erik A. Smith, David L. Lorenz, Erich W. Kessler, Andrew M. Berg, Christopher A. Sanocki
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5114
The Interstate 94 Corridor has been identified as 1 of 16 Minnesota groundwater areas of concern because of its limited available groundwater resources. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, completed six seasonal and annual groundwater balances for parts of the Interstate 94 Corridor...
Characteristics of dissolved organic matter in the Upper Klamath River, Lost River, and Klamath Straits Drain, Oregon and California
Jami H. Goldman, Annett B. Sullivan
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1160
Concentrations of particulate organic carbon (POC) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC), which together comprise total organic carbon, were measured in this reconnaissance study at sampling sites in the Upper Klamath River, Lost River, and Klamath Straits Drain in 2013–16. Optical absorbance and fluorescence properties of dissolved organic matter (DOM),...
Aftershocks, earthquake effects, and the location of the large 14 December 1872 earthquake near Entiat, central Washington
Thomas M. Brocher, Margaret G. Hopper, S.T. Ted Algermissen, David M. Perkins, Stanley R. Brockman, Edouard P. Arnold
2017, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (108) 66-83
Reported aftershock durations, earthquake effects, and other observations from the large 14 December 1872 earthquake in central Washington are consistent with an epicenter near Entiat, Washington. Aftershocks were reported for more than 3 months only near Entiat. Modal intensity data described in this article are consistent with an Entiat area...
Increased sediment load during a large-scale dam removal changes nearshore subtidal communities
Stephen P. Rubin, Ian M. Miller, Melissa M. Foley, Helen D. Berry, Jeffrey J. Duda, Benjamin Hudson, Nancy E. Elder, Matthew M. Beirne, Jonathan A. Warrick, Michael L. McHenry, Andrew W. Stevens, Emily Eidam, Andrea Ogston, Guy R. Gelfenbaum, Rob Pedersen
2017, PLoS ONE (12) 1-46
The coastal marine ecosystem near the Elwha River was altered by a massive sediment influx—over 10 million tonnes—during the staged three-year removal of two hydropower dams. We used time series of bathymetry, substrate grain size, remotely sensed turbidity, scuba dive surveys, and towed video observations collected before and during dam...
Evaluation and use of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Clean Watersheds Needs Survey data to quantify nutrient loads to surface water, 1978–2012
Tamara I. Ivahnenko
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5115
Changes in municipal and industrial point-source discharges over time have been an important factor affecting nutrient trends in many of the Nation’s streams and rivers. This report documents how three U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) national datasets—the Permit Compliance System, the Integrated Compliance Information System, and the Clean Watersheds Needs...
Regional water table (2016) in the Mojave River and Morongo groundwater basins, southwestern Mojave Desert, California
Meghan C. Dick, Adam Kjos
2017, Scientific Investigations Map 3391
From January to April 2016, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Mojave Water Agency, and other local water districts made approximately 1,200 water-level measurements in about 645 wells located within 15 separate groundwater basins, collectively referred to as the Mojave River and Morongo groundwater basins. These data document recent conditions and, when...
