A hierarchical community occurrence model for North Carolina stream fish
S.R. Midway, Tyler Wagner, B.H. Tracy
2016, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (143) 1348-1357
The southeastern USA is home to one of the richest—and most imperiled and threatened—freshwater fish assemblages in North America. For many of these rare and threatened species, conservation efforts are often limited by a lack of data. Drawing on a unique and extensive data set spanning over 20 years, we modeled...
Bathymetric terrain model of the Atlantic margin for marine geological investigations
Brian D. Andrews, Jason D. Chaytor, Uri S. ten Brink, Daniel S. Brothers, James V. Gardner, Elizabeth A. Lobecker, Brian R. Calder
2016, Open-File Report 2012-1266
A bathymetric terrain model of the Atlantic margin covering almost 725,000 square kilometers of seafloor from the New England Seamounts in the north to the Blake Basin in the south is compiled from existing multibeam bathymetric data for marine geological investigations. Although other terrain models of the same area are...
Geophysical log database for the Floridan aquifer system and southeastern Coastal Plain aquifer system in Florida and parts of Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina
Lester J. Williams, Jessica E. Raines, Amanda E. Lanning
2016, Data Series 760
A database of borehole geophysical logs and other types of data files were compiled as part of ongoing studies of water availability and assessment of brackish- and saline-water resources. The database contains 4,883 logs from 1,248 wells in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, and from a limited number of offshore...
Unsteady flow in natural compound channel: Experiment and simulation
Francisco J. Simoes, Paul J. Kinzel
2016, Conference Paper, River flow 2012: Proceedings of the International Conference on Fluvial Hydraulics
Phragmites Australis, or common reed, is an invasive plant species that has spread along channels of the Platte River (Nebraska, USA), adversely altering the biogeomorphology of the system. Of particular interest have been the impacts on riparian habitat, specifically the reduction of suitable areas for crane roosting and shorebird nesting....
Tabulated Transmissivity and Storage Properties of the Floridan Aquifer System in Florida and Parts of Georgia, South Carolina, and Alabama
Eve L. Kuniansky, Jason C. Bellino
2016, Data Series 669
A goal of the U.S. Geological Survey Groundwater Resources Program is to assess the availability of fresh water within each of the principal aquifers in the United States with the greatest groundwater withdrawals. The Floridan aquifer system (FAS), which covers an area of approximately 100,000 square miles in Florida and...
Determination of dilution factors for discharge of aluminum-containing wastes by public water-supply treatment facilities into lakes and reservoirs in Massachusetts
John A. Colman, Andrew J. Massey, Sara L. Brandt
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5136
Dilution of aluminum discharged to reservoirs in filter-backwash effluents at water-treatment facilities in Massachusetts was investigated by a field study and computer simulation. Determination of dilution is needed so that permits for discharge ensure compliance with water-quality standards for aquatic life. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chronic standard for aluminum,...
Development and evaluation of clear-water pier and contraction scour envelope curves in the Coastal Plain and Piedmont Provinces of South Carolina
Stephen T. Benedict, Andral W. Caldwell
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2005-5289
The U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the South Carolina Department of Transportation collected clear-water pier- and contraction-scour data at 116 bridges in the Coastal Plain and Piedmont Physiographic Provinces of South Carolina. Pier-scour depths collected in both provinces ranged from 0 to 8.0 feet. Contraction-scour depths collected in the...
National Land Cover Database 2001 (NLCD01)
Andrew E. LaMotte
2016, Data Series 383
This 30-meter data set represents land use and land cover for the conterminous United States for the 2001 time period. The data have been arranged into four tiles to facilitate timely display and manipulation within a Geographic Information System (see http://water.usgs.gov/GIS/browse/nlcd01-partition.jpg). The National Land Cover Data Set for 2001 was...
Clear-water abutment and contraction scour in the Coastal Plain and Piedmont Provinces of South Carolina, 1996-99
Stephen T. Benedict
2016, Water-Resources Investigations Report 2003-4064
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the South Carolina Department of Transportation, collected observations of clear-water aburment and contraction scour at 146 bridges in the Coastal Plain and Piedmont of South Carolina. Scour depths ranged from 0 to 23.6 feet. Theoretical scour depths were computed at each bridge and...
GIS-Based Identification of Areas with Mineral Resource Potential for Six Selected Deposit Groups, Bureau of Land Management Central Yukon Planning Area, Alaska
James V. Jones III, Susan M. Karl, Keith A. Labay, Nora B. Shew, Matthew Granitto, Timothy S. Hayes, Jeffrey L. Mauk, Jeanine M. Schmidt, Erin Todd, Bronwen Wang, Melanie B. Werdon, Douglas B. Yager
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1021
This study, covering the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Central Yukon Planning Area (CYPA), Alaska, was prepared to aid BLM mineral resource management planning. Estimated mineral resource potential and certainty are mapped for six selected mineral deposit groups: (1) rare earth element (REE) deposits associated with peralkaline to carbonatitic intrusive...
Surface-water quality in agricultural watersheds of the North Carolina Coastal Plain associated with concentrated animal feeding operations
Stephen L. Harden
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5080
The effects of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) on water quality were investigated at 54 agricultural stream sites throughout the North Carolina Coastal Plain during 2012 and 2013. Three general watershed land-use types were examined during the study, including 18 background watersheds with no active CAFOs (BK sites), 18 watersheds...
Preliminary methodology to assess the national and regional impact of U.S. wind energy development on birds and bats
James E. Diffendorfer, Julie A. Beston, Matthew D. Merrill, Jessica C. Stanton, M.D. Corum, Scott R. Loss, Wayne E. Thogmartin, Douglas H. Johnson, Richard A. Erickson, Kevin W. Heist
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5066
The U.S. Geological Survey has developed a methodology to assess the impacts of wind energy development on wildlife; it is a probabilistic, quantitative assessment methodology that can communicate to decision makers and the public the magnitude of these effects on species populations. The methodology is currently applicable to birds and...
Activity-specific ecological niche models for planning reintroductions of California condors (Gymnogyps californianus)
Jesse D'Elia, Susan M. Haig, Matthew J. Johnson, Bruce G. Marcot, Richard Young
2015, Biological Conservation (184) 90-99
Ecological niche models can be a useful tool to identify candidate reintroduction sites for endangered species but have been infrequently used for this purpose. In this paper, we (1) develop activity-specific ecological niche models (nesting, roosting, and feeding) for the critically endangered California condor (Gymnogyps californianus) to aid in reintroduction...
Projected changes in diverse ecosystems from climate warming and biophysical drivers in northwest Alaska
Mark Torre Jorgenson, Bruce G. Marcot, David K. Swanson, Janet C. Jorgenson, Anthony R. DeGange
2015, Climatic Change (130) 131-144
Climate warming affects arctic and boreal ecosystems by interacting with numerous biophysical factors across heterogeneous landscapes. To assess potential effects of warming on diverse local-scale ecosystems (ecotypes) across northwest Alaska, we compiled data on historical areal changes over the last 25–50 years. Based on historical rates of change relative to time...
The 2014 Mw6.1 South Napa Earthquake: A unilateral rupture with shallow asperity and rapid afterslip
Shengji Wei, Sylvain Barbot, Robert Graves, James J. Lienkaemper, Teng Wang, Kenneth W. Hudnut, Yuning Fu, Don Helmberger
2015, Seismological Research Letters (86) 344-354
The Mw6.1 South Napa earthquake occurred near Napa, California on August 24, 2014 (UTC), and was the largest inland earthquake in Northern California since the 1989 Mw6.9 Loma Prieta earthquake. The first report of the earthquake from the Northern California Earthquake Data Center (NCEDC) indicates a hypocentral depth of 11.0km...
Stratigraphic reconnaissance of the Middle Jurassic Red Glacier Formation, Tuxedni Group, at Red Glacier, Cook Inlet, Alaska
David L. LePain, Richard G. Stanley
2015, Report
The Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys (DGGS) and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) are implementing ongoing programs to characterize the petroleum potential of Cook Inlet basin. Since 2009 this program has included work on the Mesozoic stratigraphy of lower Cook Inlet, including the Middle Jurassic Tuxedni Group between Tuxedni...
Evaluation of perchlorate sources in the Rialto-Colton and Chino California subbasins using chlorine and oxygen isotope ratio analysis
Paul B. Hatzinger, J.K. Bohlke, John A. Izbicki, Nicholas F. Teague, Neil C. Sturchio
2015, Report
Perchlorate (ClO4-) in groundwater can be from synthetic or natural sources, the latter of which include both historical application of imported nitrate fertilizers from the Atacama Desert of Chile and naturally deposited ClO4- that forms atmospherically and accumulates in arid regions such as the southwestern US. The objective of this...
Demographic rates and population viability of black bears in Louisiana
Jared S. Laufenberg, Joseph D. Clark, Michael J. Hooker, Carrie L. Lowe, Kaitlin C. O’Connell-Goode, Jesse C. Troxler, Maria M. Davidson, Michael J. Chamberlain, Richard B. Chandler
2015, Wildlife Monographs (194) 1-37
The Louisiana black bear (Ursus americanus luteolus) was reduced to a few small, fragmented, and isolated subpopulations in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley by the mid-twentieth century resulting from loss and fragmentation of habitat. In 1992, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) granted the Louisiana black bear threatened...
Dating base flow in streams using dissolved gases and diurnal temperature changes
Ward E. Sanford, Gerolamo C. Casile, Karl B. Haase
2015, Water Resources Research (51) 9790-9803
A method is presented for using dissolved CFCs or SF6 to estimate the apparent age of stream base flow by indirectly estimating the mean concentration of the tracer in the inflowing groundwater. The mean value is estimated simultaneously with the mean residence times of the gas and water in the...
Application-ready expedited MODIS data for operational land surface monitoring of vegetation condition
Jesslyn F. Brown, Daniel M. Howard, Bruce K. Wylie, Aaron M. Friesz, Lei Ji, Carolyn Gacke
2015, Remote Sensing (7) 16226-16240
Monitoring systems benefit from high temporal frequency image data collected from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) system. Because of near-daily global coverage, MODIS data are beneficial to applications that require timely information about vegetation condition related to drought, flooding, or fire danger. Rapid satellite data streams in operational applications...
Assessing shoreline exposure and oyster habitat suitability maximizes potential success for sustainable shoreline protection using restored oyster reefs
Megan K. LaPeyre, Kayla Serra, T. Andrew Joyner, Austin T. Humphries
2015, PeerJ (3)
Oyster reefs provide valuable ecosystem services that contribute to coastal resilience. Unfortunately, many reefs have been degraded or removed completely, and there are increased efforts to restore oysters in many coastal areas. In particular, much attention has recently been given to the restoration of shellfish reefs along eroding shorelines to...
Estimation of historic flows and sediment loads to San Francisco Bay,1849–2011
H.R. Moftakhari, D.A. Jay, S.A. Talke, David H. Schoellhamer
2015, Journal of Hydrology (529) 1247-1261
River flow and sediment transport in estuaries influence morphological development over decadal and century time scales, but hydrological and sedimentological records are typically too short to adequately characterize long-term trends. In this study, we recover archival records and apply a rating curve approach to develop the first instrumental estimates of...
Resolving bathymetry from airborne gravity along Greenland fjords
Alexandra Boghosian, Kirsty Tinto, James R. Cochran, David Porter, Stefan Elieff, Bethany L. Burton, Robin E. Bell
2015, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (120) 8516-8533
Recent glacier mass loss in Greenland has been attributed to encroaching warming waters, but knowledge of fjord bathymetry is required to investigate this mechanism. The bathymetry in many Greenland fjords is unmapped and difficult to measure. From 2010 to 2012, National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Operation IceBridge collected a unique...
A geochemical and geophysical assessment of coastal groundwater discharge at select sites in Maui and O’ahu, Hawai’i
Peter W. Swarzenski, H. Dulaiova, M.L. Dalier, C.R. Glenn, C.G. Smith, Curt D. Storlazzi
2015, Book chapter, Coastal research library: Groundwater in the coastal zones of Asia-Pacific
This chapter summarizes fieldwork conducted to derive new estimates of coastal groundwater discharge and associated nutrient loadings at select coastal sites in Hawai’i, USA. Locations for this work were typically identified based on pronounced, recent ecosystem degradation that may at least partially be attributable to sustained coastal groundwater discharge. Our...
The Gulf Coast Vulnerability Assessment: Mangrove, Tidal Emergent Marsh, Barrier Islands, and Oyster Reef
Amanda Watson, Joshua S. Reece, Blair Tirpak, Cynthia Kallio Edwards, Laura Geselbracht, Mark Woodrey, Megan K. LaPeyre, P. Soupy Dalyander
2015, Report
Climate, sea level rise, and urbanization are undergoing unprecedented levels of combined change and are expected to have large effects on natural resources—particularly along the Gulf of Mexico coastline (Gulf Coast). Management decisions to address these effects (i.e., adaptation) require an understanding of the relative vulnerability of various resources to...
