The 3D Elevation Program—Supporting the economy of Massachusetts
Dan Walters
2025, Fact Sheet 2025-3044
Introduction Massachusetts extends from the mountains of the Appalachian system in the west of the State to the sandy beaches and rocky shorelines of the Atlantic coast in the east. Inland topographic data support a wide range of important activities, including geologic mapping, transportation planning, forest and wildlife management, quantifying ecological...
Rapid increase in antibodies to influenza A virus H5 and N1 in Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis) following the introduction of 2.3.4.4B H5N1 into North America
Jeffery D. Sullivan, Rebecca L. Poulson, Glenn H. Olsen, Alicia Berlin, Zijing Cao, Deborah Carter, Josh Homyack, Jennifer Kilburn, Scott R. McWilliams, Joshua Osborn, Tori Mezebish Quinn, Hannah Schley, Matthew M. Weegman, Christopher A. Williams, David E. Stallknecht, Diann Prosser
2025, Canadian Journal of Microbiology
Clade 2.3.4.4b Eurasian-origin H5N1 entered North America in late 2021 and spread across the continent. While studies have characterized the antibody response mounted by dabbling ducks following exposure, little data are available for diving ducks. This study sought to identify influenza A virus (IAV) infection and antibodies in Lesser and...
Sensitive environmental DNA methods for low-risk surveillance of at-risk bumble bees
Rodney T. Richardson, Grace Avalos, Cameron J. Garland, Regina Trott, Olivia Hager, Mark J. Hepner, Clayton D. Raines, Karen Goodell
2025, Molecular Ecology Resources (26)
Terrestrial environmental DNA (eDNA) techniques have been proposed as a means of sensitive, non-lethal pollinator monitoring. To date, however, no studies have provided evidence that eDNA methods can achieve detection sensitivity on par with traditional pollinator surveys. Using a large-scale dataset of eDNA and corresponding net surveys, we show that...
Land change, fire, and climate weaken carbon sink in the conterminous U.S.
Jinxun Liu, Benjamin M. Sleeter, Zhiliang Zhu, Mark A. Cochrane, Qiang Zhou, Bin Wang, Grant Domke, Paul Selmants, Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Qiuan Zhu, Tamara Wilson, Kristin Byrd, Eric Ward, Terry Sohl, Todd Hawbaker, Zhen Zhang, Christopher Soulard, Kimberly Wickland, Robert G. Striegl
2025, Science Advances (11)
The land carbon sink of the conterminous United States was evaluated using a bottom-up modeling framework and 30-meter land change data from 1985 to 2020. This cross-scale, cross-landscape, and cross-system approach tracked fractional land cover changes and applied regional model calibration. Results show average terrestrial and aquatic carbon sinks of +110 ±...
Morphometric and geological characterization with statistical correlations for 33 tributary drainage basins of the San Juan River watershed in the Four Corners region, USA
K. E. Miltenberger, Zachary Shephard, Rachel Lynn Mixon, Johanna Blake, Shaleene Chavarria, Douglas Yager
2025, Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis (25)
Basin morphometry, climate and geology control how a hydrological network evolves over time, controlling the efficiency of weathering of elements from geological materials, and ultimately the input of sediment and dissolved constituents to river systems. Exceedances to the Navajo Nation surface water quality standards for trace metals have been reported...
Satellite tracking supports hypotheses of breeding allochrony and allopatry in the Endangered Pterodroma hasitata (Black-capped Petrel, Diablotin)
Yvan G. Satgé, J. Brian Patteson, Bradford S. Keitt, Chris P. Gaskin, Patrick G.R. Jodice
2025, Journal of Caribbean Ornithology (38) 59-66
Pterodroma hasitata, the Black-capped Petrel (locally known as Diablotin), is the only extant Pterodroma petrel nesting in the Caribbean. The species is listed as globally Endangered by the IUCN and was recently listed as endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Pterodroma hasitata show a phenotypic gradient, ranging from a darker, smaller form to...
Megafaunal community structure on ferromanganese and phosphorite hardgrounds in the Southern California Borderland
Devin Vlach, Olivia S. Pereira, Francis Nguyen, Angelica Bradley, Kira Mizell, Lisa A. Levin
2025, Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography (224)
The Southern California Borderland (SCB) is a topographically complex region on the active continental margin that hosts varied hardground habitats, including ferromanganese (FeMn) crusts and phosphorites, marine minerals being considered for resource extraction. The SCB is influenced by seasonal upwelling and terrestrial inputs, and has a well-defined oxygen-minimum zone (OMZ)....
Fiber-optic sensing for earthquake hazards research, monitoring and early warning
Jeffrey J. McGuire, Andrew J. Barbour, Zack J. Spica, Verónica Rodríguez Tribaldos, Zhongwen Zhan, Bradley P. Lipovsky, Robert J. Mellors, Ettore Biondi, Clara Yoon, Martin Karrenbach, Adam T. Ringler, James William Atterholt, Avinash Nayak, Theresa Marie Sawi, Loic Viens, Eileen R. Martin, Allen L. Husker, Paul Bodin, Morgan P. Moschetti, Qibin Shi, Nathaniel C. Miller, Prisha Puri
2025, Seismological Research Letters
The use of fiber‐optic sensing systems in seismology has exploded in the past decade. Despite an ever‐growing library of ground‐breaking studies, questions remain about the potential of fiber‐optic sensing technologies as tools for advancing if not revolutionizing earthquake‐hazards‐related research, monitoring, and early warning systems. A working group convened to explore...
Lessons from 40 years of communicating volcanic risk during crises
Lara Mani, Jenni Barclay, Carina Fearnley, Richard E.A. Robertson, Blaise Mafuko Nyandwi, Sara Barsotti, Amy Donovan, Wendy K. Stovall
2025, Nature Geoscience (18) 1077-1080
Since the 1985 Nevado del Ruiz eruption that killed over 23,000 people in Armero, Colombia, risk communication has become central to volcanic crisis management. Despite the development of effective tools and programmes for volcanic risk communication, considerable challenges remain....
Cosmic dust reveals dynamic shifts in central Arctic sea-ice coverage over the past 30,000 years
Frank J. Pavia, Jesse Farmer, Laura Gemery, Thomas M. Cronin, Jonathan Treffkorn, Kenneth A. Farley
2025, Science (390) 628-632
Arctic sea-ice loss affects biological productivity, sustenance in coastal communities, and geopolitics. Forecasting these impacts requires mechanistic understanding of how Arctic sea ice responds to climate change, but this is limited by scarce long-term records. We present continuous 30,000-year reconstructions of sea-ice coverage from the Arctic Ocean based on measurements...
Occurrence and surface availability of Siskiyou Mountains Salamanders (Plethodon stormi) and Scott Bar Salamanders (P. asupak) in northern California
Brian Halstead, Daniel Antonio Macias, Casey D. Moss, Patrick M. Kleeman, Jonathan P. Rose
2025, Herpetologica (81) 336-345
Estimating the distributions of cryptic species is essential for conservation, yet our understanding is hampered by animal behavior and imperfect detection. We developed and implemented a multiscale occupancy survey protocol to estimate the probability of occurrence, probability of being active on the surface, and detection probability of two range-restricted terrestrial...
Spatial distribution and relative biomass of bigheaded carps in Lake Balaton, Hungary estimated from an environmental DNA survey
Nora Boross, Ardo Laszlo, Duane C. Chapman, Gergely Boros, Zoltán Vitál, Viktor Tóth, Nathan Thompson, Katy E. Klymus, Catherine A. Richter
2025, PLoS ONE (20)
Silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis), bighead carp (H. molitrix) and their hybrids, collectively known as bigheaded carps, have been introduced to Lake Balaton, Hungary. The current stock sizes are difficult to assess. We investigated environmental DNA (eDNA) techniques targeted for bigheaded carps, assessed the spatial distribution of eDNA in Lake Balaton,...
Global recreational consumption of non-native inland fish: Higher economic benefits, but lower nutritional value and climate resilience
Marco Milardi, Louisa E. Wood, Elizabeth A. Nyboer, Holly Susan Embke, Sui C. Phang, Abigail J. Lynch
2025, Science of the Total Environment (1005)
Inland recreational fisheries are globally significant leisure pursuits, with well-documented benefits to human health and well-being, but also one of the principal drivers of non-native fish introductions to enhance fishing opportunities, whether for sport or sustenance. In this study, we assess the relative reliance of global inland recreational fisheries on...
U.S. Geological Survey geomagnetic variometer data: Capitalizing on seismic infrastructure
Adam T. Ringler, Andrew Holcomb, E. Joshua Rigler, Spencer Wilbur, C. Balch, Corey Beutel, Brendan Ryan Geels, J. Guerra, A. Horton, Edward Kromer, Kristen A. Lewis, Jeffrey J. Love, Yolando Root, Claudia Kristina Rossavik, N. Shavers, John Spritzer, Tyler Storm, Alexandra Nicole Wernle, David C. Wilson
2025, Seismological Research Letters
The U.S. Geological Survey’s Geomagnetism Program is collaborating with the Earthquake Hazards Program and Global Seismographic Network Program to densify magnetic field observations. This collaboration focuses on the installation of magnetometers, or magnetic variometers, at existing seismic stations. Along with improving the density of space weather observations for hazard monitoring,...
Missing data in ecology: Syntheses, clarifications, and considerations
Michael Dumelle, Rob Trangucci, Amanda M. Nahlik, Anthony R Olsen, Kathryn Irvine, Karen A. Blocksom, Jay Ver Hoef, Claudio Fuentes
2025, Ecological Monographs (95)
In ecology and related sciences, missing data are common and occur in a variety of different contexts. When missing data are not handled properly, subsequent statistical estimates tend to be biased, inefficient, and lack proper confidence interval coverage. Missing data are often grouped into three categories: missing completely at random (MCAR),...
Too hot for comfort: Elevated temperatures influence gene expression and exceed thermal tolerance of bigmouth shiners, Ericymba dorsalis
Ella K. Humphrey, Jonathan J. Spurgeon, Lizabeth Bowen, Robert E. Wilson, Shannon C. Waters-Dynes, Braxton M. Newkirk, Sarah A. Sonsthagen
2025, Journal of Fish Biology
Environmental and associated ecosystem change may affect the persistence of fish species based on their ability to adapt to changing conditions, including decreasing flows and rising water temperatures. Exceeding the thermal tolerances of stream fish will likely result in a loss of ability to maintain metabolic processes. We evaluated the...
Refined chronology of late Quaternary eruptions at Harrat Khaybar, Saudi Arabia, with implications for magma dynamics and regional volcanic history
Abdullah Aohali, Shanaka L. de Silva, Alejandro Cisneros de Leon, Charles Lewis, Axel K. Schmitt, Martin Danišík, Mark E. Stelten, Sujoy Mukhopadhyay, Robert Duncan, Frank C. Ramos
2025, GSA Bulletin
Determining accurate and precise ages for Quaternary volcanic centers is essential for reconstructing volcanic field histories, understanding magmatic processes, and assessing potential hazards or risk. Harrat Khaybar, western Saudi Arabia, is one of the youngest and potentially most active volcanic fields on the Arabian plate, has been active since ca....
Quantifying depuration of methylmercury from fish consumption by travelers
Ryan F. Lepak, Jean H. Mve Beh, Clotaire Moukegni-Sika, Jean N.B. Binguema, Sarah E. Janssen, Jacob M. Ogorek, Michael Tate, Peter B. McIntyre
2025, Environment and Health
During a two-week field sampling expedition in Gabon, two American scientists consumed fish daily from the Ogooué River watershed. We sampled their scalp and facial hair periodically to evaluate hair as a biomarker to track shifts in methylmercury (MeHg) exposure from diet. Each individual differed in the onset and extent...
A high-resolution late Paleocene–early Eocene organic-walled dinoflagellate cyst zonation of the United States Atlantic Coastal Plain
Mei Nelissen, Appy Sluijs, Debra A. Willard, Henk Brinkhuis
2025, Journal of Micropalaeontology (44) 431-467
Over the past decades, many expanded sedimentary records from the US Atlantic Coastal Plain (ACP) have been studied in detail to assess causes and consequences of the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM; ∼ 56 Ma). In ACP sections, the PETM, which is globally marked by a distinct negative carbon isotope excursion (CIE) lasting <span...
Changes in phosphorus concentration and flux from 2011 to 2023 in major U.S. tributaries to the Laurentian Great Lakes
Dustin William Kincaid, Matthew W. Diebel, Erin E. Bertke, Donald B. Bonville, G. F. Koltun, Dale M. Robertson, Luke C. Loken
2025, Journal of Great Lakes Research
Reducing phosphorus (P) flux to the Great Lakes is critical for improving water quality and controlling eutrophication. We used 13 water years (2011–2023) of U.S. Geological Survey data from 24 major U.S. tributaries (representing 47% of the U.S. Great Lakes watershed area) to evaluate temporal changes in orthophosphate (PO4-P) and...
Evaluating Laramide orogenesis via flexural basin response in the San Juan basin, New Mexico and Colorado
Kurt Rudolph, Ryan J Leary, Tyson Michael Smith, Kristine L. Zellman
2025, Conference Paper, New Mexico Geological Society 75th annual fall field conference guidebook
A challenge in interpreting the location, timing, and magnitude of ancient orogenic events is that ongoing uplift and erosion in the hinterlands often destroys much of the primary record of these events. However, basin-thickness patterns in the sedimentary record can provide complimentary evidence of uplift via flexural effects. Here, we...
Amphibian diversity of the western Colorado canyonlands including potential threats from nonnative bullfrogs and disease
Denita M Weeks, David Pilliod, Madeline (Nikki) Grant-Hoffman, Anjelica F Quintana Spencer, Daniel Neubaum, Paul Hampton, Michaela Ray Grossklaus, Matthew B Laramie, Erin L. Muths
2025, Western North American Naturalist (85) 515-535
Throughout the canyons of the Colorado and Uncompahgre Plateaus, water is a limited resource for wildlife, with patchy distribution and seasonal availability. Tributary creeks within these canyons drain into mainstem rivers, providing habitat and breeding sites for native amphibians. Yet, little is known about the diversity and distribution of amphibians...
Drone-based radiometric surveys provide high-resolution mine waste characterization
Chloe Danielle Gustafson, Anjana K. Shah, Matthew Alexander Burgess, Josip Adams, Virginia McLemore, Evan J. Owen
2025, The Leading Edge (44) 889-900
Airborne radiometric surveys use passive geophysical techniques to characterize geochemical variations at or near earth’s surface. These methods have been used for a variety of mapping applications, including mineral resource evaluation. However, detailed characterization of smaller geologic targets, including mine waste features, requires flying at lower altitudes and with tighter...
The Mammoth magnetic anomaly, Pinal County, Arizona
Callum Andrew Walter, Daniel S. Scheirer, Carl Joseph Beno, Jackson Stone Borchardt, Dylan Mark Connell
2025, The Leading Edge (44) 879-888
A high-resolution Earth Mapping Resources Initiative airborne geophysical survey was flown in the southwest North American porphyry copper province to improve bedrock geologic maps and to identify areas that have unrecognized critical mineral resource potential. During the review of the aeromagnetic data, a distinctly monopolar-shaped, negative magnetic anomaly was observed...
Measurement of in situ-produced cosmogenic nuclides in fine-grained quartz from shale
Xianmei Huang, Darryl E. Granger, William Elijah Odom, Brody Conner, Lan Luo
2025, Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms (569)
In situ-produced 10Be in quartz is widely used to constrain exposure ages and denudation rates, traditionally measured in sand-sized grains. Here we report a new method for isolating fine-grained quartz from shale and demonstrate its reliability for grain sizes down to single microns. Sequential dissolution tests and analyses of grain size...
