St. Louis area earthquake hazards mapping project; seismic and liquefaction hazard maps
Chris H. Cramer, Robert A. Bauer, Jae-won Chung, David Rogers, Larry Pierce, Vicki Voigt, Brad Mitchell, David Gaunt, Robert Williams, David Hoffman, Gregory L. Hempen, Phyllis Steckel, Oliver S. Boyd, Connor M. Watkins, Kathleen Tucker, Natasha McCallister
2016, Seismological Research Letters (88) 206-223
We present probabilistic and deterministic seismic and liquefaction hazard maps for the densely populated St. Louis metropolitan area that account for the expected effects of surficial geology on earthquake ground shaking. Hazard calculations were based on a map grid of 0.005°, or about every 500 m, and are thus higher...
Estimated use of water in the Delaware River Basin in Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, 2010
Susan S. Hutson, Kristin S. Linsey, Russell A. Ludlow, Betzaida Reyes, Jennifer L. Shourds
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5142
The Delaware River Basin (DRB) was selected as a Focus Area Study in 2011 by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) as part of the USGS National Water Census. The National Water Census is a USGS research program that focuses on national water availability and use and then develops new water...
The 3D Elevation Program and America's infrastructure
Vicki Lukas, Carswell
2016, Fact Sheet 2016-3093
Infrastructure—the physical framework of transportation, energy, communications, water supply, and other systems—and construction management—the overall planning, coordination, and control of a project from beginning to end—are critical to the Nation’s prosperity. The American Society of Civil Engineers has warned that, despite the importance of the Nation’s infrastructure, it is in...
Dissolved methane in the Beaufort Sea and the Arctic Ocean, 1992-2009; sources and atmospheric flux
Thomas D. Lorenson, Jens Greinert, Richard B. Coffin
2016, Limnology and Oceanography (61) S300-S323
Methane concentration and isotopic composition was measured in ice-covered and ice-free waters of the Arctic Ocean during eleven surveys spanning the years of 1992-1995 and 2009. During ice-free periods, methane flux from the Beaufort shelf varies from 0.14 to 0.43 mg CH4 m-2 day-1. Maximum fluxes from localized areas of...
Summary of environmental flow monitoring for the Sustainable Rivers Project on the Middle Fork Willamette and McKenzie Rivers, western Oregon, 2014–15
Krista L. Jones, Joseph F. Mangano, J. Rose Wallick, Heather D. Bervid, Melissa Olson, Mackenzie K. Keith, Leslie Bach
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1186
This report presents the results of an ongoing environmental flow monitoring study by The Nature Conservancy (TNC), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), and U.S. Geological Survey in support of the Sustainable Rivers Project (SRP) of TNC and USACE. The overarching goal of this study is to evaluate and characterize...
Stakeholder views of management and decision support tools to integrate climate change into Great Lakes Lake Whitefish management
Abigail J. Lynch, William W. Taylor, Aaron M. McCright
2016, Fisheries (41) 644-652
Decision support tools can aid decision making by systematically incorporating information, accounting for uncertainties, and facilitating evaluation between alternatives. Without user buy-in, however, decision support tools can fail to influence decision-making processes. We surveyed fishery researchers, managers, and fishers affiliated with the Lake Whitefish Coregonus clupeaformis fishery in the 1836...
Streamflow data
Gregg J. Wiche, Robert R. Holmes Jr.
2016, Book chapter, Flood forecasting: A global perspective
Streamflow data are vital for a variety of water-resources issues, from flood warning to water supply planning. The collection of streamflow data is usually an involved and complicated process. This chapter serves as an overview of the streamflow data collection process. Readers with the need for the detailed information on...
Impacts of shore expansion and catchment characteristics on lacustrine thermokarst records in permafrost lowlands, Alaska Arctic Coastal Plain
Josefine Lenz, Benjamin M. Jones, Sebastian Wetterich, Rik Tjallingii, Michael Fritz, Christopher D. Arp, Natalia Rudaya, Guido Grosse
2016, arktos (2)
Arctic lowland landscapes have been modified by thermokarst lake processes throughout the Holocene. Thermokarst lakes form as a result of ice-rich permafrost degradation, and they may expand over time through thermal and mechanical shoreline erosion. We studied proximal and distal sedimentary records from a thermokarst lake located on the Arctic...
Subsea ice-bearing permafrost on the U.S. Beaufort Margin: 1. Minimum seaward extent defined from multichannel seismic reflection data
Laura L. Brothers, Bruce M. Herman, Patrick E. Hart, Carolyn D. Ruppel
2016, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (17) 4354-4365
Subsea ice-bearing permafrost (IBPF) and associated gas hydrate in the Arctic have been subject to a warming climate and saline intrusion since the last transgression at the end of the Pleistocene. The consequent degradation of IBPF is potentially associated with significant degassing of dissociating gas hydrate deposits. Previous studies interpreted...
Deposition, accumulation, and alteration of Cl−, NO3−, ClO4− and ClO3− salts in a hyper-arid polar environment: Mass balance and isotopic constraints
Andrew Jackson, Alfonso F. Davila, John Karl Böhlke, Neil C. Sturchio, Ritesh Sevanthi, Nubia Estrada, Maeghan Brundrett, Denis Lacelle, Christopher P. McKay, Armen Poghosyan, Wayne Pollard, Kris Zacny
2016, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (182) 197-215
The salt fraction in permafrost soils/sediments of the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV) of Antarctica can be used as a proxy for cold desert geochemical processes and paleoclimate reconstruction. Previous analyses of the salt fraction in MDV permafrost soils have largely been conducted in coastal regions where permafrost soils are variably...
Bounded fractional diffusion in geological media: Definition and Lagrangian approximation
Yong Zhang, Christopher T. Green, Eric M. LaBolle, Roseanna M. Neupauer, Hong-Guang Sun
2016, Water Resources Research (52) 8561-8577
Spatiotemporal Fractional-Derivative Models (FDMs) have been increasingly used to simulate non-Fickian diffusion, but methods have not been available to define boundary conditions for FDMs in bounded domains. This study defines boundary conditions and then develops a Lagrangian solver to approximate bounded, one-dimensional fractional diffusion. Both the zero-value and non-zero-value Dirichlet,...
A-DROP: A predictive model for the formation of oil particle aggregates (OPAs)
Lin Zhao, Michel C. Boufadel, Xiaolong Geng, Kenneth Lee, Thomas King, Brian H. Robinson, Faith A. Fitzpatrick
2016, Marine Pollution Bulletin (106) 245-259
Oil–particle interactions play a major role in removal of free oil from the water column. We present a new conceptual–numerical model, A-DROP, to predict oil amount trapped in oil–particle aggregates. A new conceptual formulation of oil–particle coagulation efficiency is introduced to account for the effects of oil stabilization by particles,...
Nitrate removal from agricultural drainage ditch sediments with amendments of organic carbon: Potential for an innovative best management practice
Derek R. Faust, Robert Kröger, Leandro E. Miranda, Scott A. Rush
2016, Water, Air, & Soil Pollution (227)
Agricultural fertilizer applications have resulted in loading of nutrients to agricultural drainage ditches in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley. The purpose of this study was to determine effects of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and particulate organic carbon (POC) amendments on nitrate-nitrogen (NO3−-N) removal from overlying water, pore water, and sediment...
Spatial and temporal variability of contaminants within estuarine sediments and native Olympia oysters: A contrast between a developed and an undeveloped estuary
Elise F. Granek, Kathleen E. Conn, Elena B. Nilsen, Lori Pillsbury, Angela L. Strecker, Steve Rumrill, William Fish
2016, Science of the Total Environment (557-558) 869-879
Chemical contaminants can be introduced into estuarine and marine ecosystems from a variety of sources including wastewater, agriculture and forestry practices, point and non-point discharges, runoff from industrial, municipal, and urban lands, accidental spills, and atmospheric deposition. The diversity of potential sources contributes to the likelihood of contaminated marine waters...
Acid rain and its environmental effects: Recent scientific advances
Douglas A. Burns, Julian Aherne, David A. Gay, Christopher M.B. Lehmann
2016, Atmospheric Environment (146) 1-4
The term ‘acid rain’ refers to atmospheric deposition of acidic constituents that impact the earth as rain, snow, particulates, gases, and vapor. Acid rain was first recognized by Ducros (1845) and subsequently described by the English chemist Robert Angus Smith (Smith, 1852) whose pioneering studies linked the sources to industrial...
A dynamic leaf gas-exchange strategy is conserved in woody plants under changing ambient CO2: evidence from carbon isotope discrimination in paleo and CO2 enrichment studies
Steven L. Voelker, J. Renee Brooks, Frederick C. Meinzer, Rebecca Anderson, Martin K.-F. Bader, Giovanna Battipaglia, Katie M. Becklin, David Beerling, Didier Bert, Julio L. Betancourt, Todd E. Dawson, Jean-Christophe Domec, Richard P. Guyette, Christian Korner, Steven W. Leavitt, Sune Linder, John D. Marshall, Manuel Mildner, Jerome Ogee, Irina P. Panyushkina, Heather J. Plumpton, Kurt S. Pregitzer, Matthias Saurer, Andrew R. Smith, Rolf T.W. Siegwolf, Michael C. Stambaugh, Alan F. Talhelm, Jacques C. Tardif, Peter K. Van De Water, Joy K. Ward, Lisa Wingate
2016, Global Change Biology (22) 889-902
Rising atmospheric [CO2], ca, is expected to affect stomatal regulation of leaf gas-exchange of woody plants, thus influencing energy fluxes as well as carbon (C), water, and nutrient cycling of forests. Researchers have proposed various strategies for stomatal regulation of leaf gas-exchange that include maintaining a constant leaf internal [CO2],...
Roost site selection by ring-billed and herring gulls
Daniel E. Clark, Stephen DeStefano, Kenneth G. MacKenzie, Kiana K. G. Koenen, Jillian J. Whitney
2016, Journal of Wildlife Management (80) 708-719
Gulls (Larus spp.) commonly roost in large numbers on inland and coastal waters, yet there is little information on how or where gulls choose sites for roosting. Roost site selection can lead to water quality degradation or aviation hazards when roosts are formed on water supply reservoirs or are close...
Characterization of sediment and measurement of groundwater levels and temperatures, Camas National Wildlife Refuge, eastern Idaho
Brian V. Twining, Gordon W. Rattray
2016, Data Series 1024
The Camas National Wildlife Refuge (Refuge) in eastern Idaho, established in 1937, contains wetlands, ponds, and wet meadows that are essential resting and feeding habitat for migratory birds and nesting habitat for waterfowl. Initially, natural sources of water supported these habitats. However, during the past few decades, climate change...
Light Goose Conservation Order effects on nontarget waterfowl behavior and energy expenditure
Andrew J. Dinges, Elisabeth B. Webb, Mark P. Vrtiska
2016, Wildlife Society Bulletin (40) 694-704
When the Light Goose Conservation Order (LGCO) was established during 1999 in the Rainwater Basin of Nebraska, USA, LGCO activities were limited to 4 days/week and 16 public wetlands were closed to the LGCO to limit disturbance to nontarget waterfowl during this energetically important time period. However, the effects of...
Linking silicate weathering to riverine geochemistry—A case study from a mountainous tropical setting in west-central Panama
Russell S. Harmon, Gerhard Wörner, Steven T. Goldsmith, Brendan A. Harmon, Christopher B. Gardner, W. Berry Lyons, Fred L. Ogden, Michael J. Pribil, David T. Long, Zoltán Kern, István Fórizs
2016, GSA Bulletin (128) 1780-1812
Chemical analyses from 71 watersheds across an ∼450 km transect in west-central Panama provide insight into controls on weathering and rates of chemical denudation and CO2 consumption across an igneous arc terrain in the tropics. Stream and river compositions across this region of Panama are generally dilute, having a total dissolved...
Water clarity of the Colorado River—Implications for food webs and fish communities
Nicholas Voichick, Theodore A. Kennedy, David J. Topping, Ronald E. Griffiths, Kyrie Fry
2016, Fact Sheet 2016-3053
The closure of Glen Canyon Dam in 1963 resulted in drastic changes to water clarity, temperature, and flow of the Colorado River in Glen, Marble, and Grand Canyons. The Colorado River is now much clearer, water temperature is less variable throughout the year, and the river is much colder in...
Estimation of time-variable fast flow path chemical concentrations for application in tracer-based hydrograph separation analyses
Scott C. Kronholm, Paul D. Capel
2016, Water Resources Research (52) 6881-6896
Mixing models are a commonly used method for hydrograph separation, but can be hindered by the subjective choice of the end-member tracer concentrations. This work tests a new variant of mixing model that uses high-frequency measures of two tracers and streamflow to separate total streamflow into water from slowflow and...
Migratory bird habitat in relation to tile drainage and poorly drained hydrologic soil groups
Brandi Kastner, Victoria G. Christensen, Tanja N. Williamson, Christopher A. Sanocki
2016, Conference Paper, 10th International Drainage Symposium Conference
The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) is home to more than 50% of the migratory waterfowl in North America. Although the PPR provides an abundance of temporary and permanent wetlands for nesting and feeding, increases in commodity prices and agricultural drainage practices have led to a trend of wetland drainage. The...
A survey of uncertainty in stage-discharge rating curves and streamflow records in the United States
Julie E. Kiang, Robert R. Mason, Jr., Timothy A. Cohn
2016, Conference Paper, River Flow 2016
No abstract available....
Analyses of infrequent (quasi-decadal) large groundwater recharge events in the northern Great Basin: Their importance for groundwater availability, use, and management
Melissa D. Masbruch, Christine Rumsey, Subhrendu Gangopadhyay, David D. Susong, Tom Pruitt
2016, Water Resources Research (52) 7819-7836
There has been a considerable amount of research linking climatic variability to hydrologic responses in the western United States. Although much effort has been spent to assess and predict changes in surface water resources, little has been done to understand how climatic events and changes affect groundwater resources. This study...
