Mineral commodity summaries 2017
Joyce A. Ober
2017, Report
This report is the earliest Government publication to furnish estimates covering 2016 nonfuel mineral industry data. Data sheets contain information on the domestic industry structure, Government programs, tariffs, and 5-year salient statistics for more than 90 individual minerals and materials....
Linking dominant Hawaiian tree species to understory development in recovering pastures via impacts on soils and litter
Stephanie G. Yelenik
2017, Restoration Ecology (25) 42-52
Large areas of tropical forest have been cleared and planted with exotic grass species for use as cattle pasture. These often remain persistent grasslands after grazer removal, which is problematic for restoring native forest communities. It is often hoped that remnant and/or planted trees can jump-start forest succession; however, there...
Noble gas isotopes in mineral springs and wells within the Cascadia forearc, Washington, Oregon, and California
Patricia A. McCrory, James E. Constantz, Andrew G. Hunt
2017, Open-File Report 2016-1203
IntroductionThis U.S. Geological Survey report presents laboratory analyses along with field notes for an exploratory study to document the relative abundance of noble gases in mineral springs and water wells within the Cascadia forearc of Washington, Oregon, and California (fig. 1). This report describes 14 samples collected in 2014 and...
Spatial variability of Chinook salmon spawning distribution and habitat preferences
Jeremy M. Cram, Christian E. Torgersen, Ryan S. Klett, George R. Pess, Darran May, Todd N. Pearsons, Andrew H. Dittman
2017, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (146) 206-221
We investigated physical habitat conditions associated with the spawning sites of Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha and the interannual consistency of spawning distribution across multiple spatial scales using a combination of spatially continuous and discrete sampling methods. We conducted a census of aquatic habitat in 76 km of the upper main-stem...
Potential distribution of the viral haemorrhagic septicaemia virus in the Great Lakes region
Luis E. Escobar, Gael Kurath, Joaquim Escobar-Dodero, Meggan E. Craft, Nicholas B.D. Phelps
2017, Journal of Fish Diseases (40) 11-28
Viral haemorrhagic septicaemia virus (VHSV) genotype IVb has been responsible for large-scale fish mortality events in the Great Lakes of North America. Anticipating the areas of potential VHSV occurrence is key to designing epidemiological surveillance and disease prevention strategies in the Great Lakes basin. We explored the environmental features that...
smwrGraphs—An R package for graphing hydrologic data, version 1.1.2
David L. Lorenz, Aliesha L. Diekoff
2017, Open-File Report 2016-1188
This report describes an R package called smwrGraphs, which consists of a collection of graphing functions for hydrologic data within R, a programming language and software environment for statistical computing. The functions in the package have been developed by the U.S. Geological Survey to create high-quality graphs for publication or...
The use of data-mining techniques for developing effective decisionsupport systems: A case study of simulating the effects ofclimate change on coastal salinity intrusion
Paul Conrads, Jr. Edwin Roehl
2017, Book chapter, Integrated environmental modelling to solve real world problems: Methods, vision and challenges
Natural-resource managers and stakeholders face difficult challenges when managing interactions between natural and societal systems. Potential changes in climate could alter interactions between environmental and societal systems and adversely affect the availability of water resources in many coastal communities. The availability of freshwater in coastal streams can be threatened by...
Paleomagnetism and 40Ar/39Ar geochronology of the Plio-Pleistocene Boring Volcanic Field: Implications for the geomagnetic polarity time scale and paleosecular variation
Jonathan T. Hagstrum, Robert J. Fleck, Russell C. Evarts, Andrew T. Calvert
2017, Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors (262) 101-115
Paleomagnetic directions and 40Ar/39Ar ages have been determined for samples of lava flows from the same outcrops, where possible, for 84 eruptive units ranging in age from 3200 ka to 60 ka within the Boring Volcanic Field (BVF) of the Pacific Northwest, USA. This study expands upon our previous results for the...
Glaciological measurements and mass balances from Sperry Glacier, Montana, USA, years 2005–2015
Adam Clark, Daniel B. Fagre, Erich H. Peitzsch, Blase A. Reardon, Joel T. Harper
2017, Earth System Science Data (9) 47-61
Glacier mass balance measurements help to provide an understanding of the behavior of glaciers and their response to local and regional climate. In 2005 the United States Geological Survey established a surface mass balance monitoring program on Sperry Glacier, Montana, USA. This project is the first quantitative study of mass...
The 3D Elevation Program—Landslide recognition, hazard assessment, and mitigation support
Vicki Lukas, Carswell
2017, Fact Sheet 2016-3094
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Landslide Hazards Program conducts landslide hazard assessments, pursues landslide investigations and forecasts, provides technical assistance to respond to landslide emergencies, and engages in outreach. All of these activities benefit from the availability of high-resolution, three-dimensional (3D) elevation information in the form of light...
Hydrologic and hydraulic analyses of Great Meadow wetland, Acadia National Park, Maine
Pamela J. Lombard
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5159
The U.S. Geological Survey completed hydrologic and hydraulic analyses of Cromwell Brook and the Sieur de Monts tributary in Acadia National Park, Maine, to better understand causes of flooding in complex hydrologic and hydraulic environments, like those in the Great Meadow wetland and Sieur de Monts Spring area. Regional regression...
Comparison of climate envelope models developed using expert-selected variables versus statistical selection
Laura A. Brandt, Allison Benscoter, Rebecca G. Harvey, Carolina Speroterra, David N. Bucklin, Stephanie S. Romanach, James I. Watling, Frank J. Mazzotti
2017, Ecological Modelling (345) 10-20
Climate envelope models are widely used to describe potential future distribution of species under different climate change scenarios. It is broadly recognized that there are both strengths and limitations to using climate envelope models and that outcomes are sensitive to initial assumptions, inputs, and modeling methods Selection of predictor variables,...
Nutrient processes at the stream-lake interface for a channelized versus unmodified stream mouth
Richard G. Niswonger, Ramon C. Naranjo, David Smith, James E. Constantz, Kip K. Allander, Donald O. Rosenberry, Bethany Neilson, Michael R. Rosen, David A. Stonestrom
2017, Water Resources Research (53) 237-256
Inorganic forms of nitrogen and phosphorous impact freshwater lakes by stimulating primary production and affecting water quality and ecosystem health. Communities around the world are motivated to sustain and restore freshwater resources and are interested in processes controlling nutrient inputs. We studied the environment where streams flow into lakes, referred...
Integrating landslide and liquefaction hazard and loss estimates with existing USGS real-time earthquake information products
Kate E. Allstadt, Eric M. Thompson, Mike Hearne, M. Anna Nowicki Jessee, J. Zhu, David J. Wald, Hakan Tanyas
2017, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the 16th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has made significant progress toward the rapid estimation of shaking and shakingrelated losses through their Did You Feel It? (DYFI), ShakeMap, ShakeCast, and PAGER products. However, quantitative estimates of the extent and severity of secondary hazards (e.g., landsliding, liquefaction) are not currently included in scenarios...
Spectral wave dissipation by submerged aquatic vegetation in a back-barrier estuary
Daniel J. Nowacki, Alexis Beudin, Neil K. Ganju
2017, Limnology and Oceanography (62) 736-753
Submerged aquatic vegetation is generally thought to attenuate waves, but this interaction remains poorly characterized in shallow-water field settings with locally generated wind waves. Better quantification of wave–vegetation interaction can provide insight to morphodynamic changes in a variety of environments and also is relevant to the planning of nature-based coastal...
Integrating Radarsat-2, Lidar, and Worldview-3 Imagery to maximize detection of forested inundation extent in the Delmarva Peninsula, USA
Melanie K. Vanderhoof, Hayley Distler, Di Ana Mendiola, Megan Lang
2017, Remote Sensing (9)
Natural variability in surface-water extent and associated characteristics presents a challenge to gathering timely, accurate information, particularly in environments that are dominated by small and/or forested wetlands. This study mapped inundation extent across the Upper Choptank River Watershed on the Delmarva Peninsula, occurring within both Maryland and Delaware. We integrated...
A carbon balance model for the great dismal swamp ecosystem
Rachel Sleeter, Benjamin M. Sleeter, Brianna Williams, Dianna M. Hogan, Todd Hawbaker, Zhiliang Zhu
2017, Carbon Balance and Management (12) 1-20
BackgroundCarbon storage potential has become an important consideration for land management and planning in the United States. The ability to assess ecosystem carbon balance can help land managers understand the benefits and tradeoffs between different management strategies. This paper demonstrates an application of the Land...
Macroclimatic change expected to transform coastal wetland ecosystems this century
Christopher A. Gabler, Michael J. Osland, James B. Grace, Camille L. Stagg, Richard H. Day, Stephen B. Hartley, Nicholas M. Enwright, Andrew From, Meagan L. McCoy, Jennie L. McLeod
2017, Nature Climate Change (7) 142-147
Coastal wetlands, existing at the interface between land and sea, are highly vulnerable to climate change. Macroclimate (for example, temperature and precipitation regimes) greatly influences coastal wetland ecosystem structure and function. However, research on climate change impacts in coastal wetlands has concentrated primarily on sea-level rise and largely ignored macroclimatic...
Water quality and bed sediment quality in the Albemarle Sound, North Carolina, 2012–14
Michelle C. Moorman, Sharon A. Fitzgerald, Laura N. Gurley, Ahmed Rhoni-Aref, Keith A. Loftin
2017, Open-File Report 2016-1171
The Albemarle Sound region was selected in 2012 as one of two demonstration sites in the Nation to test and improve the design of the National Water Quality Monitoring Council’s National Monitoring Network (NMN) for U.S. Coastal Waters and Tributaries. The goal of the NMN for U.S. Coastal Waters and...
Seventy-five years of vegetation treatments on public rangelands in the Great Basin of North America
David S. Pilliod, Justin L. Welty, Gordon Toevs
2017, Rangelands (39) 1-9
On the Ground Land treatments occurring over millions of hectares of public rangelands in the Great Basin over the last 75 years represent one of the largest vegetation manipulation and restoration efforts in the world.The ability to use legacy data from land treatments in adaptive management and ecological research...
Quantifying geomorphic change at ephemeral stream restoration sites using a coupled-model approach
Laura M. Norman, Joel B. Sankey, David J. Dean, Joshua J. Caster, Stephen B. DeLong, Whitney Henderson-DeLong, Jon D. Pelletier
2017, Geomorphology (283) 1-16
Rock-detention structures are used as restoration treatments to engineer ephemeral stream channels of southeast Arizona, USA, to reduce streamflow velocity, limit erosion, retain sediment, and promote surface-water infiltration. Structures are intended to aggrade incised stream channels, yet little quantified evidence of efficacy is available. The goal of this 3-year study...
Assessment of ecosystem response to a temporary water level drawdown and subsequent refilling at Topock Marsh, Arizona—July 2011–October 2014
Joan S. Daniels, Jeanette C. Haegele
2017, Open-File Report 2016-1195
Topock Marsh is a 1,637-hectare (4,045-acre) wetland adjacent to the Colorado River near Needles, California, and a main feature of Havasu National Wildlife Refuge (NWR). The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in cooperation with the Bureau of Reclamation, began construction of an infrastructure improvement project in 2010 to increase the...
Data cleaning methodology for monthly water-to-oil and water-to-gas production ratios in continuous resource assessments
Brian A. Varela, Seth S. Haines, Nicholas J. Gianoutsos
2017, Open-File Report 2016-1204
Petroleum production data are usually stored in a format that makes it easy to determine the year and month production started, if there are any breaks, and when production ends. However, in some cases, you may want to compare production runs where the start of production for all wells starts...
An update of the Death Valley regional groundwater flow system transient model, Nevada and California
Wayne R. Belcher, Donald S. Sweetkind, Claudia C. Faunt, Michael T. Pavelko, Mary C. Hill
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5150
Since the original publication of the Death Valley regional groundwater flow system (DVRFS) numerical model in 2004, more information on the regional groundwater flow system in the form of new data and interpretations has been compiled. Cooperators such as the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, U.S. Fish and...
Multiscale guidance and tools for implementing a landscape approach to resource management in the Bureau of Land Management
Sarah K. Carter, Natasha B. Carr, Kevin H. Miller, David J.A. Wood, editor(s)
2017, Open-File Report 2016-1207
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is implementing a landscape approach to resource management (hereafter, landscape approach) to more effectively work with partners and understand the effects of management decisions. A landscape approach is a set of concepts and principles used to guide resource management when multiple stakeholders are involved...
