Records of continental slope sediment flow morphodynamic responses to gradient and active faulting from integrated AUV and ROV data, offshore Palos Verdes, southern California Borderland
Katherine L. Maier, Daniel S. Brothers, Charles K. Paull, Mary McGann, David W. Caress, James E. Conrad
2016, Marine Geology (393) 47-66
Variations in seabed gradient are widely acknowledged to influence deep-water deposition, but are often difficult to measure in sufficient detail from both modern and ancient examples. On the continental slope offshore Los Angeles, California, autonomous underwater vehicle, remotely operated vehicle, and shipboard methods were used to collect a dense grid...
Helium as a tracer for fluids released from Juan de Fuca lithosphere beneath the Cascadia forearc
Patricia A. McCrory, James E. Constantz, Andrew G. Hunt, J. Luke Blair
2016, Geochemistry International (17) 2423-2449
The ratio between helium isotopes (3He/4He) provides an excellent geochemical tracer for investigating the sources of fluids sampled at the Earth's surface. 3He/4He values observed in 25 mineral springs and wells above the Cascadia forearc document a significant component of mantle-derived helium above Juan de Fuca lithosphere, as well as...
An investigation of soil-structure interaction effects observed at the MIT Green Building
Ertugrul Taciroglu, Mehmet Çelebi, S. Farid Ghahari, Fariba Abazarsa
2016, Earthquake Spectra (32) 2425-2448
The soil-foundation impedance function of the MIT Green Building is identified from its response signals recorded during an earthquake. Estimation of foundation impedance functions from seismic response signals is a challenging task, because: (1) the foundation input motions (FIMs) are not directly measurable, (2) the as-built properties of the super-structure...
Modeling the geographic distribution of Ixodes scapularis and Ixodes pacificus (Acari: Ixodidae) in the contiguous United States
Micah Hahn, Catherine S. Jarnevich, Andrew J. Monaghan, Rebecca J. Eisen
2016, Journal of Medical Entomology (53) 1176-1191
In addition to serving as vectors of several other human pathogens, the black-legged tick, Ixodes scapularis Say, and western black-legged tick, Ixodes pacificus Cooley and Kohls, are the primary vectors of the spirochete (Borrelia burgdorferi ) that causes Lyme disease, the most common vector-borne disease in the United States. Over...
Hydrologic exchange flows and their ecological consequences in river corridors
Judson Harvey
2016, Book chapter, Stream ecosystems in a changing environment
The actively flowing waters of streams and rivers remain in close contact with surrounding off-channel and subsurface environments. These hydrologic linkages between relatively fast flowing channel waters, with more slowly flowing waters off-channel and in the subsurface, are collectively referred to as hydrologic exchange flows (HEFs). HEFs include surface exchange...
Assessing the seismic risk potential of South America
Kishor S. Jaiswal, Mark D. Petersen, Stephen Harmsen, Gregory M. Smoczyk
2016, Conference Paper
We present here a simplified approach to quantifying regional seismic risk. The seismic risk for a given region can be inferred in terms of average annual loss (AAL) that represents long-term value of earthquake losses in any one year caused from a long-term seismic hazard. The AAL are commonly measured...
The Impacts of flow alterations to crayfishes in Southeastern Oklahoma, with an emphasis on the mena crayfish (orconectes menae)
Shannon K. Brewer, Joseph J. Dyer
2016, Report
Human activities can alter the environment to the point that it is unsuitable to the native species resulting in a loss of biodiversity. Ecologists understand the importance of biodiversity and the conservation of vulnerable species. Species that are narrowly endemic are considered to be particularly vulnerable because they often use...
Contributions of moderately low flows and large floods to geomorphic change in the Rio Puerco Arroyo, New Mexico
Eleanor R. Griffin, Jonathan M. Friedman
2016, Conference Paper, New Mexico Fall Field Conference Guidebook
Abstract—From the mid-1800s to around 1930, monsoonal floods incised an arroyo roughly 100 m wide and 10 m deep along the lower Rio Puerco, NM, from the confluence with the Rio San Jose downstream to the mouth at the Rio Grande, causing sedimentation and flooding downstream. Since the 1930s, the...
Prediction of lake depth across a 17-state region in the United States
Samantha K. Oliver, Patricia A. Soranno, C. Emi Fergus, Tyler Wagner, Luke A. Winslow, Caren E. Scott, Katherine E. Webster, John A. Downing, Emily H. Stanley
2016, Inland Waters (6) 314-324
Lake depth is an important characteristic for understanding many lake processes, yet it is unknown for the vast majority of lakes globally. Our objective was to develop a model that predicts lake depth using map-derived metrics of lake and terrestrial geomorphic features. Building on previous models that use local topography...
Downstream passage and impact of turbine shutdowns on survival of silver American Eels at five hydroelectric dams on the Shenandoah River
Sheila Eyler, Stuart A. Welsh, David R. Smith, Mary Rockey
2016, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (145) 964-976
Hydroelectric dams impact the downstream migrations of silver American Eels Anguilla rostrata via migratory delays and turbine mortality. A radiotelemetry study of American Eels was conducted to determine the impacts of five run-of-the-river hydroelectric dams located over a 195-km stretch of the Shenandoah River, Virginia–West Virginia, during fall 2007–summer 2010....
Use of multiple age tracers to estimate groundwater residence times and long-term recharge rates in arid southern Oman
Th. Muller, K. Osenbruck, G. Strauch, S. Pavetich, K.-S. Al-Mashaikhi, C. Herb, S. Merchel, G. Rugel, W. Aeschbach, Ward E. Sanford
2016, Applied Geochemistry (74) 67-83
Multiple age tracers were measured to estimate groundwater residence times in the regional aquifer system underlying southwestern Oman. This area, known as the Najd, is one of the most arid areas in the world and is planned to be the main agricultural center of the Sultanate of Oman in the...
Adjusting particle-size distributions to account for aggregation in tephra-deposit model forecasts
Larry G. Mastin, Alexa R. Van Eaton, A.J. Durant
2016, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (16) 9399-9420
Volcanic ash transport and dispersion (VATD) models are used to forecast tephra deposition during volcanic eruptions. Model accuracy is limited by the fact that fine-ash aggregates (clumps into clusters), thus altering patterns of deposition. In most models this is accounted for by ad hoc changes to model input, representing...
Interactions of landscape disturbances and climate change dictate ecological pattern and process: spatial modeling of wildfire, insect, and disease dynamics under future climates
Rachel A. Loehman, Robert E. Keane, Lisa M. Holsinger, Zhiwei Wu
2016, Landscape Ecology (32) 1447-1459
ContextInteractions among disturbances, climate, and vegetation influence landscape patterns and ecosystem processes. Climate changes, exotic invasions, beetle outbreaks, altered fire regimes, and human activities may interact to produce landscapes that appear and function beyond historical analogs.ObjectivesWe used the mechanistic ecosystem-fire...
Northern long-eared bat day-roosting and prescribed fire in the central Appalachians
W. Mark Ford, Alexander Silvis, Joshua B. Johnson, John W. Edwards, Milu Karp
2016, Fire Ecology (12) 13-27
The northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis Trovessart) is a cavity-roosting species that forages in cluttered upland and riparian forests throughout the oak-dominated Appalachian and Central Hardwoods regions. Common prior to white-nose syndrome, the population of this bat species has declined to functional extirpation in some regions in the Northeast and...
A gas-tracer injection for evaluating the fate of methane in a coastal plain stream: Degassing versus in-stream oxidation
Victor M. Heilweil, D. Kip Solomon, Thomas H. Darrah, Troy E. Gilmore, David P. Genereux
2016, Environmental Science & Technology (50) 10504-10511
Methane emissions from streams and rivers have recently been recognized as an important component of global greenhouse budgets. Stream methane is lost as evasion to the atmosphere or in-stream methane oxidation. Previous studies have quantified evasion and oxidation with point-scale measurements. In this study, dissolved gases (methane, krypton) were injected...
Implications of projected climate change for groundwater recharge in the western United States
Thomas Meixner, Andrew H. Manning, David A. Stonestrom, Diana M. Allen, Hoori Ajami, Kyle W. Blasch, Andrea E. Brookfield, Christopher L. Castro, Jordan F. Clark, David Gochis, Alan L. Flint, Kirstin L. Neff, Rewati Niraula, Matthew Rodell, Bridget R. Scanlon, Kamini Singha, Michelle Ann Walvoord
2016, Journal of Hydrology (534) 124-138
Existing studies on the impacts of climate change on groundwater recharge are either global or basin/location-specific. The global studies lack the specificity to inform decision making, while the local studies do little to clarify potential changes over large regions (major river basins, states, or groups of states), a scale often...
Elevated bladder cancer in northern New England: The role of drinking water and arsenic
Dalsu Baris, Richard Wadell, Laura Freeman, Molly Schwenn, Joanne Colt, Joseph D. Ayotte, Mary Ward, John Nuckols, Alan Schned, Brian Jackson, Castine Clerkin, Nathanial Rothman, Lee Moore, Anne Taylor, Gilpin Robinson, Monawar G. Hosain, Carla Armenti, Richard McCoy, Claudine Samanic, Robert Hoover, Joseph Fraumeni, Alison Johnson, Margaret Karagas, Debra Silverman
2016, Journal of the National Cancer Institute (108)
Background: Bladder cancer mortality rates have been elevated in northern New England for at least five decades. Incidence rates in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont are about 20% higher than the United States overall. We explored reasons for this excess, focusing on arsenic in drinking water from private wells, which...
Fluid-faulting evolution in high definition: Connecting fault structure and frequency-magnitude variations during the 2014 Long Valley Caldera, California earthquake swarm
David R. Shelly, William L. Ellsworth, David P. Hill
2016, Journal of Geophysical Research (212) 1776-1795
An extended earthquake swarm occurred beneath southeastern Long Valley Caldera between May and November 2014, culminating in three magnitude 3.5 earthquakes and 1145 cataloged events on 26 September alone. The swarm produced the most prolific seismicity in the caldera since a major unrest episode in 1997-1998. To gain insight into...
A manual to identify sources of fluvial sediment
Allen C. Gellis, Faith A. Fitzpatrick, Joseph Schubauer-Berigan
2016, Report
Sediment is an important pollutant of concern that can degrade and alter aquatic habitat. A sediment budget is an accounting of the sources, storage, and export of sediment over a defined spatial and temporal scale. This manual focuses on field approaches to estimate a sediment budget. We also highlight the...
Streamflow ratings
Robert R. Holmes Jr.
Vijay P. Singh, editor(s)
2016, Book chapter, Handbook of Applied Hydrology
Autonomous direct determination of a continuous time series of streamflow is not economically feasible at present (2014). As such, surrogates are used to derive a continuous time series of streamflow. The derivation process entails developing a streamflow rating, which can range from a simple, single-valued relation between stage and streamflow to a fully dynamic...
Subsurface fault damage zone of the 2014 Mw 6.0 South Napa, California, earthquake viewed from fault‐zone trapped waves
Yong-Gang Li, Rufus D. Catchings, Mark R. Goldman
2016, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (106) 2747-2763
The aftershocks of the 24 August 2014 Mw 6.0 South Napa earthquake generated prominent fault‐zone trapped waves (FZTWs) that were recorded on two 1.9‐km‐long seismic arrays deployed across the northern projection (array 1, A1) and the southern part (A2) of the surface rupture of the West Napa fault zone (WNFZ). We...
Intra-community implications of implementing multiple tsunami-evacuation zones in Alameda, California
Jeff Peters, Nathan J. Wood, Rick Wilson, Kevin Miller
2016, Natural Hazards (84) 975-995
Tsunami-evacuation planning in coastal communities is typically based on maximum evacuation zones for a single scenario or a composite of sources; however, this approach may over-evacuate a community and overly disrupt the local economy and strain emergency-service resources. To minimize the potential for future over-evacuations, multiple evacuation zones...
Groundwater quality in the Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain aquifer system, eastern United States
Bruce D. Lindsey, Kenneth Belitz
2016, Fact Sheet 2016-3078
Groundwater provides nearly 50 percent of the Nation’s drinking water. To help protect this vital resource, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Project assesses groundwater quality in aquifers that are important sources of drinking water. The Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain aquifer system constitutes one of the important...
Groundwater quality in the Coastal Lowlands aquifer system, south-central United States
Jeannie R.B. Barlow, Kenneth Belitz
2016, Fact Sheet 2016-3077
Groundwater provides nearly 50 percent of the Nation’s drinking water. To help protect this vital resource, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Project assesses groundwater quality in aquifers that are important sources of drinking water. The Coastal Lowlands aquifer system constitutes one of the important areas being...
Groundwater quality in the Southeastern Coastal Plain aquifer system, southeastern United States
Jeannie Barlow, Bruce D. Lindsey, Kenneth Belitz
2016, Fact Sheet 2016-3076
Groundwater provides nearly 50 percent of the Nation’s drinking water. To help protect this vital resource, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Project assesses groundwater quality in aquifers that are important sources of drinking water. The Southeastern Coastal Plain aquifer system constitutes one of the important areas being evaluated. One or...
