2020 National Park Visitor Spending Effects Economic Contributions to Local Communities, States,and the Nation
Catherine Cullinane Thomas, Lynne Koontz
2021, Natural Resource Report NPS/NRSS/EQD/NRR--2021/2259
The National Park Service (NPS) manages the Nation’s most iconic destinations that attract millions of visitors from across the Nation and around the world. Trip-related spending by NPS visitors generates and supports economic activity within park gateway communities. This report summarizes the annual economic contribution analysis that measures how NPS...
Measuring coastal acidification using in situ sensors in the National Estuary Program
Holly Galavotti, James Vasslides, Matthew Poach, Curtis Bohlen, Christopher W. Hunt, Matthew Liebman, Xinping Hu, Melissa McCutcheon, Jim O’Donnell, Kay Howard-Strobel, Prassede Vella, John Lehrter, Karina Nielsen, John Largier, Tom Ford, Alex Steele, Kimberly K. Yates, York Johnson, Cheryl Brown, Stephen R. Pacella
2021, EPA Report EPA-842-R-21001
Estuaries and coastal areas are highly vulnerable to the impacts of acidification on shellfish, coral reefs, fisheries, and the commercial and recreational industries that they support. Yet, little is known about the extent of this vulnerability and the estuary-specific drivers that contribute to acidification, such as nutrient enrichment from stormwater,...
Mass eruption rate, column height, and duration dataset for volcanic eruptions
Natalia I. Deligne
2021, Report
This report describes a dataset assembled and curated as part of a project funded by the Earthquake Commission Biennial Grant 20781, Towards real-time probabilistic ash deposition forecasting for Aotearoa New Zealand. This dataset compiles measured, estimated, and calculated values for volcanic eruption mass eruption rates, column heights, and durations. Data...
Movement, survival, and delays of Atlantic Salmon smolts in the Piscataquis River, Maine, USA
Alejandro Molina-Moctezuma, Erin Peterson, Joseph D. Zydlewski
2021, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (150) 345-360
Movement, delays, and survival of hatchery Atlantic Salmon Salmo salar smolts were evaluated through the Piscataquis River, a tributary of the Penobscot River in Maine, USA. We explored the effects of the river’s four dams (Guilford, Dover, Browns Mill, and Howland dams) from 2005 to 2019. During this period, the downstream-most dam...
Monitoring the recovery of seabirds and forage fish following a major ecosystem disruption in Lower Cook Inlet
Mayumi L. Arimitsu, Sarah K. Schoen, John F. Piatt, Caitlin Elizabeth Marsteller, Gary S. Drew
2021, OCS Study 2021-031
Following the North Pacific marine heatwave of 2014-2016 and associated extreme die-off of seabirds in the winter of 2015-2016, we repeated historical marine bird and forage fish surveys around two seabird colonies (Gull Island, Chisik Island) in lower Cook Inlet during 2016-2019 in order to document immediate and lingering impacts...
Constraints on deep, CO2-rich degassing at arc volcanoes from solubility experiments on hydrous basaltic andesite of Pavlof Volcano, Alaska Peninsula, at 300 to 1200 MPa
Margaret Mangan, Thomas W. Sisson, W. Ben Hankins, Nobumichi Shimizu, Torsten W. Vennemann
2021, American Mineralogist (106) 762-773
The solubility of CO2 in hydrous basaltic andesite was examined in fO2-controlled experiments at a temperature of 1125 °C and pressures between 310–1200 MPa. Concentrations of dissolved H2O and CO2 in experimental glasses were determined by ion microprobe calibrated on a subset of run glasses analyzed by high-temperature vacuum manometry. Assuming that the...
Sedex hydrothermal systems triggered upheavals to marine chemistry and mass extinctions: Applications for ore genesis research and mineral exploration
Poul Emsbo
2021, Newsletter
New USGS research reveals that the discharge of metal-rich brine that formed sedex deposits on ancient seafloors had profound effects on global ocean chemistry and biologic evolution. For example, brine expulsion caused short-duration positive excursions (“spikes”) in the global marine Sr isotope record. While these spikes are unexplained by conventional...
Putting people first: Using social science to reduce risk
Patricia A. Champ, Christopher M. Barth, Hannah Brenkert-Smith, Lilia C. Falk, Jamie Gomez, James Meldrum
2021, Wildfire Magazine
Wildland-urban interface residents, who occupy the areas where wildlands meet and mix with human development, are both contributors to and recipients of the disastrous effects of wildland fires. They contribute through fire starts, flammable homes, unmitigated properties, opposition to mitigation on nearby public lands, and land use planning efforts. We...
USGS 2020 critical minerals review
Steven M. Fortier, Nedal T. Nassar, Karen D. Kelley, Graham W. Lederer, Jeffrey L. Mauk, Jane M. Hammarstrom, Warren C. Day, Robert R. Seal, II
2021, Mining Engineering (73) 32
Concerns about the lack of domestic production and availability of essential mineral raw materials were a recurring theme throughout the 20th century, particularly in the periods around armed conflicts (Congressional Research Service, 2019). These concerns resulted in the designation of particular minerals as “strategic” or “critical,” terms that commonly depend...
The concept of evanescent microbial ecosystems in Earth's atmosphere
Dale W. Griffin
2021, Book chapter, Microbes: The foundation stone of the biosphere
This essay presents the hypothesis that short-lived or evanescent microbial ecosystems exist in Earth’s lower troposphere (~ < 4 km). This hypothesis is supported by culture- and molecular-based studies that have shown diverse, viable, and metabolically active microbial communities within Earth’s atmospheric boundary layer. Surprisingly, microorganisms are routinely recovered in samples collected at...
Conservation status of the world’s skinks (Scincidae): Taxonomic and geographic patterns in extinction risk
David G. Chapple, Uri Roll, Monika Böhm, Rocio Aguilar, Andrew P. Amey, Chris C. Austin, Maureen Baling, Anthony J. Barley, Michael F. Bates, Aaron M. Bauer, Daniel G. Blackburn, Phil Bowles, Rafe M. Brown, S. R. Chandramouli, Laurent Chirio, Hal Cogger, Guarino R. Colli, Werner Conradie, Patrick J. Couper, Mark A. Cowan, Michael D. Craig, Indraneil Das, Aniruddha Datta-Roy, Chris R. Dickman, Ryan J. Ellis, Aaron L. Fenner, Stewart Ford, S. R. Ganesh, Michael G. Gardner, Peter Geissler, Graeme R. Gillespie, Frank Glaw, Matthew J. Greenlees, Oliver W. Griffith, L. Lee Grismer, Margaret L. Haines, D. James Harris, S. Blair Hedges, Rod A. Hitchmough, Conrad J. Hoskin, Mark N. Hutchinson, Ivan Ineich, Jordi Janssen, Gregory R. Johnston, Benjamin R. Karin, J. Scott Keogh, Frederick Kraus, Matthew LeBreton, Petros Lymberakis, Rafaqat Masroor, Peter J. McDonald, Sven Mecke, Jane Melville, Sabine Melzer, Damian R. Michael, Aurelien Miralles, Nicola J. Mitchell, Nicola J. Nelson, Truong Q. Nguyen, Cristiano de Campos Nogueira, Hidetoshi Ota, Panayiotis Pafilis, Olivier S. G. Pauwels, Ana Perera, Daniel Pincheira-Donoso, Robert Reed, Marco A. Ribeiro-Junior, Julia L. Riley, Sara Rocha, Pamela L. Rutherford, Ross A. Sadlier, Boaz Shacham, Glenn M. Shea, Richard Shine, Alex Slavenko, Adam Stow, Joanna Sumner, Oliver J. S. Tallowin, Roy Teale, Omar Torres-Carvajal, Jean-Francois Trape, Peter Uetz, Kanishka D. B. Ukuwela, Leonie E. Valentine, James U. Van Dyke, Dylan van Winkel, Raquel Vasconcelos, Miguel Vences, Philipp Wagner, Erik Wapstra, Geoffrey M. While, Martin J. Whiting, Camilla M. Whittington, Steve Wilson, Thomas Ziegler, Reid Tingley, Shai Meiri
2021, Biological Conservation (257)
Our knowledge of the conservation status of reptiles, the most diverse group of terrestrial vertebrates, has improved dramatically over the past decade, but still lags behind that of the other tetrapod groups. Here, we conduct the first comprehensive assessment (~92% of the world’s ~1,714 described species) of the conservation status...
Nocturnal incubation recess and flushing behavior by duck hens
Rebecca Croston, Sarah H. Peterson, C. Alex Hartman, Mark P. Herzog, Cliff L. Feldheim, Michael L. Casazza, Josh T. Ackerman
2021, Ecology and Evolution (11) 7292-7301
Incubating birds must balance the needs of their developing embryos with their own physiological needs, and many birds accomplish this by taking periodic breaks from incubation. Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) and gadwall (Mareca strepera) hens typically take incubation recesses in the early morning and late afternoon, but recesses can also take...
Habitat heterogeneity, temperature, and primary productivity drive elevational gradients in avian species diversity
Kristen G. Dillon, Courtney J. Conway
2021, Ecology and Evolution (11) 5985-5997
AimAnticipating and mitigating the impacts of climate change on species diversity in montane ecosystems requires a mechanistic understanding of drivers of current patterns of diversity. We documented the shape of elevational gradients in avian species richness in North America and tested a suite of a priori predictions...
Wetlands in intermittently closed estuaries can build elevations to keep pace with sea-level rise
Karen M. Thorne, Kevin Buffington, Scott Jones, John L. Largier
2021, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science (257)
Sea-level rise is a threat to coastal ecosystems, which have important conservation and economic value. While marsh response to sea-level rise has been well characterized for perennially open estuaries, bar-built intermittently-closed estuaries and their sea-level rise response are seldom addressed in the literature – despite being common globally. We seek to advance the conceptual...
Differential reliance on aquatic prey subsidies influences mercury exposure in riparian arachnids and songbirds
Allyson K. Jackson, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, W Douglas Robinson
2021, Ecology and Evolution (11) 7003-7017
Cross-ecosystem subsidies move substantial amounts of nutrients between ecosystems. Emergent aquatic insects are a particularly important prey source for riparian songbirds but may also move aquatic contaminants, such as mercury (Hg), to riparian food webs. While many studies focus on species that eat primarily emergent aquatic insects, we instead study...
Aeolian processes and landforms across the Solar System: Science and technology requirements for the next decade
Timothy N. Titus, S. Diniega, L.K. Fenton, Lynn Neakrase, J. Nienhuis, J Radebaugh, Kaj E. Williams, James R. Zimbelman
2021, Report, Planetary science and astrobiology decadal survey 2023-2032
Discussions of planetary atmospheric-surface interactions (including aeolian processes and phenomena and the resulting landforms) are often tied to a specific planetary body. Considering this, a series of workshops were initiated in 2008 to facilitate an interdisciplinary and interplanetary body approach to further our understanding of aeolian processes, phenomena, and landforms...
Science and technology requirements to explore caves in our Solar System
Timothy N. Titus, Janna Wynne, P. J. Boston, P. de Leon, C. Demirel-Floyd, H Jones, Francesco Sauro, Kyle Uckert, Ali-akbar Agha-Mohammadi, E. Calvin Alexander Jr., James W. Ashley, Armando Azua-Bustos, Leroy Chiao, Glen E. Cushing, J DeDecker, Alberto G. Fairen, A Frumkin, Jo de Waele, Gary L. Harris, Laura A. Kerber, Richard J. Leveille, Michael J. Malaska, Kavya Manyapu, Matteo Massironi, Ana Z. Miller, John E. Mylroie, Bogdan P. Onac, Scott Parazynski, Charity Phillips-Lander, Thomas Prettyman, Haley Sapers, Norbert Schorghofer, Dirk Schulze-Makuch, Red Whittaker, Kaj E. Williams, Uland Wong
2021, Report, Planetary science and astrobiology decadal survey 2023-2032
We are in the incipient phase of exploring the subterranean realm of our Solar System. Planetary caves research offers interdisciplinary, cross-planetary body investigations spanning geology, climatology, astrobiology, robotics, and human use. Caves are of great importance in advancing our understanding of planetary processes and the search for life beyond Earth....
Planetary defense preparedness: Identifying the potential for post-asteroid impact time delayed and geographically displaced hazards
Timothy N. Titus, D. G. Robertson, Joel B. Sankey
Adam Oliphant, Itiya P. Aneece, editor(s)
2021, Report, Planetary science and astrobiology decadal survey 2023-2032
A considerable amount of effort has been done to quantify impact effects from the impact of an asteroid. The effects usually considered are: blast, overpressure shock, thermal radiation, cratering, seismic shaking, ejecta, and tsunami (e.g. Hills & Goda, 1993; Collins et al., 2005, Rumpf et al., 2017). These first-order...
Solar-system-wide significance of Mars polar science
I. B. Smith, Wendy M. Calvin, D. E. Smith, C. Hansen, S. Diniega, A.S. McEwen, N. Thomas, D. Banfield, Timothy N. Titus, P. Becerra, M. Kahre, F. Forget, M. Hecht, S. Byrne, C. S. Hvidberg, P. O. Hayne, J. W. Head III, M. Mellon, B. Horgan, J. Mustard, J. Holt, A. Howard, D. McCleese, C. Stoker, P. James, N. E. Putzig, J. Whitten, P. Buhler, A. Spiga, M. Crismani, K. M. Aye, A. Portyankina, R. Orosei, A. Bramson, J. Hanley, M. Sori, O. Aharonson, S. Clifford, H. Sizemore, G. Morgan, B. Hartmann, N. Schorghofer, R. Clark, D. Berman, D. Crown, F. Chuang, M. Siegler, E. N. Dobrea, K. Lynch, R. W. Obbard, M. R. Elmaary, D. Fisher, A. Kleinboehl, M. Balme, B. Schmitt, M. Daly, R. C. Ewing, Kenneth E. Herkenhoff, L. Fenton, S. D. Guzewich, M. Koutnik, J. Levy, R. Massey, A. Losiak, V. Eke, D. Goldsby, A. Cross, T. Hager, S. Piqueux, A Kereszturi, K. Seelos, S. Wood, E. Hauber, C. Amos, P. Russell, R. Jaumann, G. Michael, S. Conway, A. Khayat, S. Lewis, G. Luizzi, G. Martinez, K. Mesick, L. Montabone, Johnsson, A. Pankine, C. Phillips-Lander, P. Read, Lauren A. Edgar, K. Zacny, A. McAdam, A. Rutledge, T. Bertrand, J. Widmer, D. Stillman, A. Soto, Z. Yoldi, R. Young, A. Svensson, L. Sam, M. Landis, A. Bhardwaj, M. Chojnacki, E. Kite, P. Thomas, J. Plaut, J. Bapst, S. Milkovich, J. Whiteway, J. Moores, C. Rezza, R. Karimova, I. Mishev, A. Van Brenen, P. Acharya, J. Chesal, A. Pascuzzo, E. Vos, G. Osinski, C. Andres, C. Neisch, S. Hibbard, P. Sinha, J. P. Knightly, S. Cartwright, S. Kounaves, C. Orgel, M. Skidmore, J. MacGregor, R. Staehle, J. Rabassa, C. Gallagher, A. Coronato, A. G. Galofre, J. Wilson, L. McKeown, N. Oliveira, P. Fawdon, U. Gayathri, C. Stuurman, C. Herny, F. Butcher, F. Bernardini, M. Perry, R. Hu, S. Mukherjee, V. Chevrier, M. E. Banks, T. Meng, P. A. Johnson, B. Tober, J. C. Johnson, Ulamsec, J. C. Echaurren, A. Khuller, C. Dinwiddie, S. Adeli, B. L. Henderson, L. R. Lozano, D. Lalich, E. Rivera-Valentín, S. Nerozzi, E. Petersen, F. Foss, R. Lorenz, J. Eigenbrode, M. Day, A. Brown, M. Pajola, O. Karatekin, A. Lucchetti, C. Cesar, C. Newman, T. G. Cave, M. Mischna, M. Patel, P. Streeter, J. C. Stern, C. M. Dundas
2021, Report, Planetary science and astrobiology decadal survey 2023-2032
1. The North Polar Layered Deposits contain thousands of ice layers that record accumulation and climate history for at least several million years, making the most accessible and most complete climate record aside from the Earth’s – and the only one to record the impact of large obliquity shifts. 2. Mars...
Yellowstone Volcano Observatory 2020 annual report
Yellowstone Volcano Observatory
2021, Circular 1482
The Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO) monitors volcanic and hydrothermal activity associated with the Yellowstone magmatic system, conducts research into magmatic processes occurring beneath Yellowstone Caldera, and issues timely warnings and guidance related to potential future geologic hazards. This report summarizes the activities and findings of YVO during the year 2020,...
Asteroid impacts - downwind and downstream effects
Timothy N. Titus, D. G. Robertson, Joel B. Sankey, Larry G. Mastin
2021, Conference Paper, 7th IAA Planetary Defense Conference – PDC 2021
For this abstract, we have selected an impact location, consistent with the PDC2021 initial scenario [1], in the San Juan Mountains, in southwestern Colorado. This is a low-density population area but is part of the watershed system within the Colorado River basin, a major source for water and power for...
The scientific rationale for deployment of a long-lived geophysical network on the Moon
Renee Weber, Clive Neal, Robert E. Grimm, Matthias Grott, Nick Schmerr, Mark Wieczorek, James D. Williams, Bruce Banerdt, Caroline Beghein, Peter Chi, Douglas Currie, Simone Dell’Agnello, Jared Espley, Raphael Garcia, Ian Garrick-Bethell, Heidi Haviland, Stephen Indyk, Catherine L. Johnson, Taichi Kawamura, Sharon Kedar, Philippe Lognonne, Seiichi Nagihara, Yosio Nakamura, Ceri Nunn, Lillian R. Ostrach, Mark Panning, Noah E. Petro, Matthew Siegler, Thomas R. Watters, Kris Zacny, S. Hop Bailey, Maria Banks, Donald Barker, Hannes Bernhardt, Valentin Bickel, Joshua T. Cahill, Jackie Clark, Dani DellaGiustina, Jesse-Lee Dimech, Andrew Dombard, Catherine Elder, Lindy Elkins-Tanton, Marshall Eubanks, Kerri Donaldson Hanna, Jan Harms, Steve Hauck, Lon Hood, Jose Hurtado, Seth Jacobson, Devanshu Jha, James Tuttle Keane, Amir Khan, Walter Kiefer, Martin Knapmeyer, Brigitte Knapmeyer-Endrun, Krishan Khurana, Juan Manuel Lorenzo, Angela Marusiak, Patrick McGovern, Laurent Montesi, Francis Nimmo, Deanna Phillips, Jacob A. Richardson, Charles Shearer, Krista Soderlund, Sean C. Solomon, Tilman Spohn, Eleonore Stutzmann, Sonia Tikoo, Slava Turyshev, Dany Waller, Ryuhei Yamada, Maria Zuber
2021, Report, Planetary science and astrobiology decadal survey 2023-2032
This white paper focuses on the scientific rationale for deploying a global, long-lived network of geophysical instruments on the surface of the Moon to understand the nature and evolution of the lunar interior from the crust to the core....
A Next Generation Lunar Orbiter mission
Timothy Glotch, Lynne Carter, Pamela Clark, Brett W. Denevi, Benjamin T Greenhagen, G. Wes Patterson, Noah E. Petro, Kurt Retherford, Sarah Valencia, Joshua T. Cahill, Ryan Watkins, Kerri Donaldson Hanna, Catherine Elder, Harald Hiesinger, Georgiana Kramer, Timothy Livengood, Heather Meyer, Lillian R. Ostrach, Michael Poston, Morgan Schusterman, Matthew Siegler, Emerson Speyerer, Angela Stickle, Carolyn H. Van der Bogert, Daniel Moriarty, Lisa R. Gaddis
2021, Report, Planetary science and astrobiology decadal survey 2023-2032
The Moon is the scientific foundation for our knowledge of the early evolution and impact history of the terrestrial planets. Over the last decades the lunar science community has made significant progress in addressing key lunar science and exploration goals, while defining many new high-priority scientific questions regarding the formation...
GANGOTRI mission concept on the glacial key to the Amazonian climate of Mars
Suniti Karunatillake, Ali M Bramson, Kris Zacny, Colin M. Dundas, Lujendra Ojha, Oded Aharonson, Eran Vos, Don R Hood, A. Deanne Rogers, Joseph S. Levy, Peter Doran, Kathleen Mandt, Jack Wilson, Emily B Hughes, Heidi Fuqua-Haviland, Jeffrey Moersch, Scott M. Perl, Dewan E. Haque, J. R. Skok, Harish, S. Vijayan, A. Bhardwaj, Brent Christner, Hanna Sizemore, A Kereszturi, Norbert Schorghofer, Kurt Retherford, Paul Niles, Juan Manuel Lorenzo, Katherine Mesick, Heather Franz, Jose Rodriguez-Manfredi, Daniel Coupland, Peter Bertone
2021, Report, Planetary science and astrobiology decadal survey 2023-2032
The GANGOTRI mission concept would investigate in situ the geologic origins of midlatitudinal Martian glaciers, as underlain by Amazonian climate evolution, by riddling the ice with a hybrid thermo-mechanical drill for deep englacial sampling. GANGOTRI would use regolith compositional measurements to characterize ice-regolith interaction, and stable isotope measurements to characterize...
Maximizing the science and resource mapping potential of Orbital VSWIR Spectral measurements of Mars
Scott L. Murchie, Raymond E. Arvidson, Janice L Bishop, Wendy M. Calvin, John Carter, John Christian, Roger N. Clark, Colin M. Dundas, Bethany L. Ehlmann, Valerie K. Fox, Abigail A. Fraeman, Timothy A Goudge, Briony H. N. Horgan, Madison N Hughes, Ellen K Leask, Alfred S. McEwen, John F Mustard, Mario Parente, Kathryn E Powell, Frank P. Seelos, Kimberly D. Seelos, Jesse D Tarnas, Christina E Viviano, James J. Wray
2021, Report, Planetary science and astrobiology decadal survey 2023-2032
The last 16 years witnessed a rapid growth in understanding the composition and aqueous alteration of Mars’ surface from orbital data from the Observatoire pour la Mineralogie, l’Eau, les Glaces et l’Activité (OMEGA) [1] and Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) [2]. Both are sensitive to water-, hydroxyl-, sulfate-,...
